Children’s Book Review: Night Night, Groot

I haven’t seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 yet, but it’s already clear that Baby Groot is going to be the cutest thing that ever comes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while the PG-13 space epic is hardly appropriate for preschoolers, parents will likely see their own cuddly toddlers in mini-Groot. That’s why Night Night, Groot is a perfect bedtime story to read to your little ones.

Gamora is reading Groot a traditional bedtime story in poem form, ala Goodnight Moon, but Rocket Raccoon isn’t having any of it. Taking Baby Groot by the hand, Rocket helps Baby Groot revisit all of the amazing things they did that day. Most of their fun times involved interacting with other characters from the MCU before Groot finally cuddles up in his clay pot with his Spider-Man doll and catches a few well deserved “Z”‘s.

The poem and speech bubbles by Brendan Deneen are a lot of fun, but Cale Atkinson’s illustrations are the real star of the book. It becomes a “who’s who” of the Marvel Universe as you turn each page. Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Moon Knight, Nova, Ant-Man, Wasp, Vision, and Spider-Man all make appearances and this book becomes a great introduction to Marvel’s characters for your youngest kids.

There are many moments in Night Night, Groot that will force cute reactions to escape your mouth, but perhaps the coolest detail is the artwork underneath the dust jacket. The alternate artwork features a walkman with a cassette tape of “Night Night, Groot Vol. 1” playing and if you follow the headphones to the back page, you find Groot jamming in his flower pot while he listens to it.

I highly recommend Night Night, Groot to parents who hope that their little superheroes grow up to be fans of Marvel characters. The colorful pages feature kid-friendly designs that are incredibly appealing and watching adorable Baby Groot hit the hay is likely to make both parent and child ready for dreamland.