Place the book within reach of your child. Ask your child to get it.

“Can you go get the book with the red puppy on the cover over on the shelf?”  

Look at the front cover, talk about the title, author and illustrator. Talk about the front cover, perhaps have your child find something and ask what she thinks it will be about.

“This story is called Clifford’s Bedtime and Norman Bridwell wrote the words and drew the pictures. I see a puppy on the front cover. Can you touch the puppy? You found it. What does a puppy say? What do you think this story is going to be about?”

Ask questions or answer your child’s questions as you read.

“Where is Clifford’s mother? Show me where Clifford is going to go to sleep.
What do you think Clifford will need next?”  

Connect the book to your child’s real life. Talk about where you sleep and what special things your toddler needs to have in order to sleep like a blanket, a pacifier, a special toy or a special song.

Use props to act out parts of a story. Have your child say good night to a special toy. For example, you might use a stuffed animal dog and pretend to put it to bed.