How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight?

by Varsha Bajaj, Ivan Bates (Illustrator)

"How many kisses do you want tonight?" the animals ask, snuggling critters tight. This adorable counting bedtime book celebrates the special ritual of goodnight kisses. Children and baby animals request from one to a million kisses from their parents when they settle in for the night. The simple, rhyming text makes for a perfect read aloud.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Counting, Storytime, Love, Mathematics

28 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

Varsha Bajaj grew up in Mumbai, India. When she came to the United States to obtain her master’s degree, her adjustment to the country was aided by her awareness of the culture through books. In addition to her previous picture books, she wrote the middle-grade novel Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood, which was shortlisted for the Cybils Award and included on the Spirit of Texas Reading Program. She lives in Houston, Texas.

Reviews

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little long and some of the rhyming is forced. It's cute and young children can relate; my class of one and two year olds likes it.

[Freddie D · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was incredibly sweet and I loved that there was a mixture of nurturing mothers and fathers featured. However, it lost its appeal in the last few pages, with the unnecessarily gendered pages: "princess pink" and "brave knight". I would like to think we've moved past sort of stereotypes.
Mem Fox's Time for Bed does a lot better job of a similar concept.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

So precious & delightful! The illustrations are beautiful and it's a perfect end to the day ❤

[A. Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good counting book inside a story book plot...

[Annburnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book about different animals getting kisses from their parents.

[NayDoubleU · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute and sweet book

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could do without the "princess pink" and "brave knight" lines.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute book especially for around bedtime. Very sweet book. If I was being picky I would say I wish they would mix up who put the kids to bed. For boys mommy always put to bed and for girls dad always did. My daughter enjoyed reading it.

[Margaret]

Him want 21 please!!, says Ted!
No Ted, it's not a question, it's the name of a book., says Baby Roo
What's the name of the book?, asks Ted
How many kisses do you want tonight?
Him want 21, please!

oh Ted!!

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read by Nanna

[KitCat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perfect for kids younger than 3 - my family read it because it is from a Houston author. We liked the illustrations but my 6yo noticed how it always matched up boys to dad and girls to mom.

[Beth (FebruaryFilly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bedtime rituals; stalling

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet little courting bedtime book
Fun little rhymes.
This book alternates between mothers and fathers tucking the little ones into bed.

[Ma-Ude Vil-Leg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it! One of our favorite book for bedtime!

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute

[Julia Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the cutest book. Simple/easy book to read aloud. Includes counting, rhyming, and a variety of adorable animals.

[Emma Franks · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute story line. all the animals are fun.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute counting bedtime book. Different animals on each sequential page ask for one more goodnight kiss than the animal on the previous page. I really enjoyed the animal illustrations.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice bedtime book to teach counting and love 💗

[DiAnne Warfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

PJ story time 02-12-2020

[Marissa Reyes · Rating 1 out of 5]

The text How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight? by Varsha Bajaj is written to help children learn the numerical system of counting. Although the illustrations were very colorful and eye popping I did not like that as the author increased with the number line the pictures did not indicate a change in numbers. For example when the author got to number five the illustration only showed two figures. So children who need to physically count out the figures to understand what is being said they will not be able to understand the text. I did not like this book and would not recommend it to an Early Childhood Education reading curriculum.

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Animal parents ask their young "'How many kisses do you want...?'" and each little one responds with a rhyme.

"'I want ONE,' laughs Little Bear
'A big, loud kiss on my soft, brown hair.'"

And so it goes on up to a little bunny asking for ten kisses, when the children take over and the numbers one through ten just aren't enough. Lovely illustrations accompany the rhymes. I also like that some of the animal (and human) parents are mothers and some are fathers. Likewise for the young. A girl and a boy finish the story.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a nice picture book and bedtime story for little ones with lovely illustrations, rhythm, and rhyme. It's a great counting book as well. My daughter loved the adorable animal pictures, but of all the cute little furry baby critters, the kittens were her favorite. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has young children to kiss tuck into bed, thumbs up! Check it out!

[Kathryn · Rating 2 out of 5]

If I read one more board book with bad rhyme, I might cry. Bajaj messes with syntax to make rhymes fit: “’How many kisses do you want, young fellow?’ Mommy Duck asks, fluffing Little Duck yellow.” And at other points loses the pentametric rhythm to make a sentence work: “‘I want FIVE.’ she says with a neigh, settling down in her warm bed of hey.”

[M. E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has it all: sweet pictures, fun rhymes, and a great way to reinforce numbers. With the K classes, we practiced holding up fingers to go with the story. It ends with two human "babies" requesting kisses above and beyond the 1 through 10..a HUNDRED..a MILLION..played for laughs, a big favorite.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This enjoyable and sweet rhyming counting story is about kisses. Each number - from one to ten - is covered by a different animal parent asking their young ones how many kisses they want at bedtime. When human children are asked by their parents, their answer is much larger numbers. Beautifully illustrated.

[Margaret Chind · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute book! How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight is a very interactive book for bedtime reading. It brings in lots of animals and is great for boys and girls. I enjoyed this book with it's vibrant pictures and sweet cuddles.

*This book was a gift from my friend Julie*

[Liliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book to learn about numbers and a great animals book also. This book contains great rhyming words throughout, for example "neigh" and "hay." In this story, all the "parent" animals ask their children, "how many kisses do you want tonight?" Cute goodnight book to read.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book about a variety of animals asking their young how many kisses they want at night. Rhyme and repetition made this a very good book for my boys. When they got to some of the higher number of kisses they said, "Mom, that's gross! That's too many!" :-)

[Brittney · Rating 5 out of 5]

"How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight?" is a precious book to read to a young child. It is a great book with good rhythm, but it also uses numbers to count and different animals. This book could be used in a classroom for counting or talking about family.