Ever met a kid obsessed with trucks AND bedtime? That’s Good Night, Little Blue Truck in a nutshell. Parents swear by this 2009 classic for winding down wild toddlers (tip: pair it with Sandra Boynton’s The Going to Bed Book for extra laughs). The rhymes? Easy to memorize. The art? Like a warm blanket—think purple barns and sheep bathed in golden-hour light. Pro move: Point out how the fireflies fade as pages turn. Kids eat that up.

Teachers dig it too. Mrs. Rodriguez, a 1st-grade teacher in Texas, told me she uses it for animal sound drills. “The duck’s ‘quack’ always gets a singalong,” she says. At home, expect nonstop “Beep! Beep!” parroting. Fair warning: You’ll hum the tune yourself while folding laundry.

Fun fact: Fans of McElmurry’s style might recognize her whimsical shrubs from Kate DiCamillo’s Mercy Watson series! Oh, and if your copy has a scribble on page 5? That’s normal. Half the library editions do—proof it’s well-loved.