All Aboard for Dreamland by Melanie Harby, illustrated by Geraldo Valerio.

I’m not a huge fan of bedtime books.  So often they are saccharine sweet and make me twitchy.  They also tend to get my sons begging me to read the book with the monster on the cover.  This one, however, works.  Follow the whistle down the rainbow railroad tracks, hear the chugga-chugga, the clickety-clack, the bumpety bump.  Get caught up in the jaunty rhythm and rhyme, and then just allow yourself to drift as the train reaches that final hill and slows way down.

The illustrations are quirky rather than sweet, filled with pink elephants, wide grins, a lots of railroad tracks.  The pace of the book is what does the trick, starting fast and vibrant and skillfully slowing at the end. 

Guaranteed yawns and sleepy eye rubbing for toddlers and preschoolers.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.