Good Night, Good Knight

Thomas, S., & Plecas, J. (2000). Good night, good knight. New York: Dutton.

What a precious, little story! There is no question that my kindergarteners will LOVE this story—about a knight who helps take care of some little dragons at bedtime. One dragon wants the knight to get him a drink of water. The second dragon wants him to read her a story. And the third dragon wants him to sing him a song. Because the knight is kind and good, he takes care of the sweet dragons--helping them go to sleep. 

This is an easy-to-read book, because there is limited text, large font, double-spaced lines, and short sentences. Sometimes, I feel like easy-to-read books lose their quality in an effort to make them more readable for children. That is not the case for this book! It is still a good story that will engage young readers. They will love the repetition, which will also help them to read the story more fluently. I can't wait to read this to my kindergarteners. :)

This story is a modern fantasy, because there are make-believe creatures in the story (dragons). Not to mention, these dragons are wearing pajamas, sleeping in beds, talking, and much more. It does remind me of a folktale, because there are three dragons, which is a common number in many folktales. Additionally, the story starts with “once…” and is set in a forest in a “faraway kingdom.”

The plot of the story is chronological, or progressive, in nature. The author starts the story with a brief background—telling us about the setting and characters. This is followed by the conflict, where the knight is disturbed by a strange sound he’s hearing far off in the forest. Finally, the problem is resolved when the knight gives the dragons a good night kiss. This helps them to finally go to sleep. Even the knight falls asleep—exhausted from taking care of the three, little dragons. 

This story very easily lends itself to sequencing. I would copy five or six pages from this book (ideally in color). Then, I would have students sequence the illustrations from beginning to end. This would allow me to see whether they remembered the order of events. As an extension, I would have my students change the ending in some way. We could pretend that the knight heard ANOTHER sound while sleeping that woke him up. I would have the students share what the dragons wanted this time. Or maybe it was a different sound altogether… I love giving students the opportunity to show their creativity. It's always interesting to hear what they will say! :)