Why Do We Say Good Night? (Champ Thornton)

Why Do We Say Good Night?

In Why Do We Say Goodnight, parents can bring comfort and encouragement to their children, reminding them Jesus is near. Going to bed and turning out the light can be a hard time for many children. Award-winning author Champ Thornton wrote this beautifully designed and illustrated book to help parents comfort their children with three truths about God.

As a mother and her little daughter talk, they remember together that God made the night, he sees in the dark, and he watches over them just like a shepherd protects his sheep. Children and parents will want to start a new nighttime tradition of reading together about why we can say that the night is good.

Reader Review from a Mom (Connie, Kentucky):

“If your children are afraid of the dark and they dread going to bed, this is the perfect book for bedtime. In this sweet book a little girl asks her mother “why do we say good night?” because she doesn’t like the dark. Her mother reminds her that God made the night as well as the day and that all He made was good. Mother also tells her that God watches over her both day and night.

Champ Thornton uses rhyming text to tell this story and illustrator Rommel Ruiz vividly shows what a little girl who doesn’t like the dark might imagine she is seeing after the lights are out. It is, however, the emphasis on God’s protection that I especially appreciated in Why Do We Say Good Night? As the little girl is almost sleep, we hear her mother saying “Good night, dear one–You need not fear. Good night, sleep well. The Lord is here…Good night.”

This story is just the right length and the pictures are attention grabbers and I believe that this is the perfect book to share with your little ones as you put them to bed.

I received a copy of this book from New Growth Press but I wasn’t obligated to write a positive review. These are my own opinions.

About the Author

Champ Thornton is an associate pastor at Ogletown Baptist Church in Newark, Delaware. He has pastored in South Carolina and served as director of SOMA, a ministry training school in Columbus, Ohio. He is host of In the Word, On the Go, a ten-minute podcast for families. Champ is author of several books, including The Radical Book for Kids.  He and his wife, Robben, have been married since 1996 and have three children.

The Illustrator

Rommel Ruiz was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. At a young age, he moved to sunny Southern California to pursue his passion for creative expression and storytelling. An accomplished designer and illustrator, Rommel incorporates influences from theater, film, animation, and mid-century design. His work includes animated visuals for Cartoon Network and the award-winning Luther documentary, as well as illustrations for books including Golly’s Folly, The Gospel in Color, Angels on Your Side, and more. He and his wife, Anny, live with their two joyful girls in Los Angeles.