Book review: Margaret Wise Brown's delightful '5-Minute Stories' helps make bedtime fun

8 stories comprise the newest book by Margaret Wise Brown and these stories are perfect for bed time. However, they do not, as the title suggests, take 5 minutes to read. Even though I drew each one out and took my time turning pages, each story actually lasts more like 2, maybe 3 minutes in, "5-Minute Stories."

Image from Amazon

And yes, I timed myself reading these stories to my littles. The title's assertion made me wonder whether the stories would, actually, take more or less than 5 minutes. And hey, if your title is going to claim something, I'm here to challenge that claim.

You're welcome, possible book-buyer.

Image from Amazon

But let's move on from the stories being shorter than they claim. Because, honestly, there are nights when I don't even want to take five entire minutes to put my kids to bed. I just need them to sleep so I can indulge in chocolate and a book.

I'm not the only one who looks forward to bedtime, right?

All the illustrations in "5-Minute Stories" use calm colors, which makes each story easy to read and great for bedtime. While I thought all the pictures were delightful, I soon realized that the two stories done by Charlotte Cooke were my favorites. The added details of her art also made "Wish Upon a Dream" and "A Song for All Seasons" my two favorite stories.

Image from Amazon

"5-Minute Stories" is a 192 page book (wowza!) compilation of 8 stories. So, while you can get a bigger bang for your buck by having all 8 encapsulated within one cover, your kids will also figure out reallllly quick there are more stories to be told. Be smarter than I was and, before you begin reading, explain that you are firmly limiting story time to a certain number of stories. I didn't do that and ended up reading half the book to my littles in one night. I couldn't say no to their pleas for, "just one more story!"

Book breakdown:
192 pages
Beautiful color illustrations
Best for ages: 3 through 10 years old
Educational factor: low
Religious content: none
Parents could be concerned about: nothing!