A grandmother-author’s heartfelt collection of twenty short animal tales designed to help young readers settle, smile, and drift off to sleep.
Bedtime can be one of the hardest stretches of a parent’s day, and Melanie Lewis is hoping her new children’s book will make that wind-down easier. “Memaw’s 20 Bedtime Stories with Animal Friends” brings together twenty gentle, screen-free tales that families can share when the lights go down and the day starts to slow.
Lewis, known as “Memaw” to her own grandchildren, wrote the book for the small audience she knows best, the kids who curl up next to her at night and ask for one more story. She grew up in a small Iowa town, raised two daughters along with three stepdaughters she calls her own, and now has six grandkids who inspired the cast of characters waiting inside.
Each story runs just long enough to hold a young listener’s attention without overstaying its welcome. Children meet alpaca movers tackling a long-distance job, a baboon opening his very first café, twin colts curious about snow on a faraway mountain, a llama leaning a little too hard on her friends, and a king-sized buffalo who insists he runs the road. Other pages introduce a magic farm gate that turns ordinary deer into Christmas helpers, a country doctor who treats patients with cheese, and a catfish that has outsmarted every angler in town.
The tone stays light, the lessons stay soft, and the endings stay kind. Lewis weaves in everyday ideas about honesty, sharing, friendship, patience, and being yourself, without ever turning the page into a lecture. Parents looking for something calmer than cartoons and shorter than a chapter book will find a comfortable middle ground here.
The collection draws on Lewis’s lifelong love of animals and the outdoors, a thread that runs through every chapter. That firsthand affection for farm life, small-town routines, and the curious creatures that fill them gives the book a warmth that’s hard to manufacture. Readers can feel the difference between a story written for a child and a story written by someone who has actually tucked one in.
“Memaw’s 20 Bedtime Stories with Animal Friends” fits a one-story-a-night routine or doubles as a longer read for weekends, road trips, and family visits. Either way, it gives caregivers something simple to reach for when the house finally goes quiet.
The book is available now. Parents, grandparents, teachers, and gift-givers can find it through major online retailers.
About the Author
Melanie Lewis, affectionately called “Memaw” by her family, is an Iowa-born storyteller whose writing grows out of years spent with animals, in the outdoors, and with the grandchildren who keep her on her toes. She is the mother of two daughters, claims three stepdaughters as her own, and counts six grandkids, plus several nieces and nephews, among her closest readers. “Memaw’s 20 Bedtime Stories with Animal Friends” is her latest book.
Media Contact
Company Name: Book Publishers Hub
Contact Person: Melanie Lewis
Email: Send Email
Country: United States
Website: https://www.amazon.com/Memaw-Time-Stories-Animal-Friends-ebook/dp/B0GGZDN721/ref=sr_1_1?crid=EII5YPKA4H0T&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.c1lOscyLHM-O0Sbz_VUQp2pkdPlCt6JdMxpUACdO3t3zChoQxnuSiDOScdbXDQIIpi2pnk9C39fep9ZFusgjdi644JF9sOuiLZo8aEj03qBzmIzMisoAWynmGMkbMo3M7FW7EmrOnWlfWr7bwEIHZq1PGXOi8Lq1cxeCQIcIGo–4mAUv7xZlCMfnhYBRlNTtvtXVRXoqNewyxkcHrXJaXKXsVAskgYgFEVH6YalqCY.fa-Y6QO1hQfs2ZDLCgv8IT9seYSogA2i4EZT1UWey08&dib_tag=se&keywords=20+bed+times&qid=1782761947&sprefix=20+bed+tim%2Caps%2C384&sr=8-1