The Giant Book of Bedtime Stories

William Roetzheim made a deliberate choice that sets this 800-page anthology apart: he included Bible stories alongside Aesop's fables, nursery rhymes, classic folk tales, and original stories rather than treating faith-based content as a separate category. For families who want a single comprehensive bedtime volume that doesn't bracket their spiritual tradition, that decision alone makes this worth knowing about. It was a finalist for Best Children's Book at the New York Book Festival, the Indie Excellence Awards, and USA Book News National Book Awards — meaningful independent recognition. The caveats are that mainstream critical coverage is limited, the original stories are hard to evaluate without full text access, and 800 pages is physically unwieldy for small hands. But as a faith-friendly family treasury, the breadth and intent here are genuinely uncommon.