Papa Bill Books

By Bill McLeod

Cover of the children's book 'God's Goodnight Stories: From Creation to Forever' with an illustration of a child sleeping in bed and magical stars and moons rising from an open book.

26 Bedtime Stories.

One Beautiful Message.

God's Goodnight Stories

God loves you.

He knows you.

And He wants you to know Him.

buy on amazon

God's Goodnight Stories is a collection of 26 gentle bedtime stories, each one built around a story from the Bible and written for children — and for the adults who love them.

Beginning with Creation and moving through God's larger story of love and redemption, each one is meant to make the Bible feel understandable, personal, and reassuring to a young heart.

Bill doesn't write as a theologian or a scholar. He writes as a father and a Christian who has spent a lifetime learning about grace — and who believes some of the most important conversations in a child's life happen in the two quiet minutes before the lights go out.

Bill's hope for every child who hears these stories is simple: that when the room goes dark and everything gets quiet, they fall asleep knowing two things — that their family loves them, and that God loves them even more.

Sometimes the best way to understand a children's book is simply to watch a child experience it.

In this video, a mom reads God’s Goodnight Stories with her child—and something beautiful happens. Her little one doesn't just listen. She follows along, repeats the words, and becomes part of the story.

This is what I hoped these stories could become: more than words on a page, but a few special minutes shared between a child and someone who loves them.

Watch the video and imagine your own child or grandchild snuggled beside you at bedtime—listening, learning, asking questions, and discovering one simple truth, story by story:

God loves them. God knows them. And He wants them to know Him.

Give Them Something Better to Fall Asleep Thinking About

Children carry more into their bedrooms than stuffed animals and blankets.

They carry the things that happened at school. Hurt feelings. Friendship problems. Things they saw on a screen. Things they heard adults talking about. Questions they don't always know how to ask. And sometimes worries they don't know how to explain.

We can't remove every difficult thing from a child's world.

But we can help decide what gets the final word at the end of their day.

That is why I wrote God’s Goodnight Stories: From Creation to Forever.

These 26 gentle, easy-to-understand Bible stories were written to help parents, grandparents, and caregivers create a few peaceful minutes with a child before the lights go out.

From Creation, Noah, Moses, David and Goliath, and Daniel in the lions' den to the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus—and finally God's promise of forever—the stories introduce children to the bigger story running through the Bible:

A God who created them, loves them, knows them, and wants them to know Him.

This isn't meant to replace the Bible. It's meant to help a child fall in love with the God of the Bible.

buy story bookbuy coloring book
Book cover of God's Goodnight Stories showing a boy sleeping in bed with magical stars and moons flowing from an open book.Table of contents listing 26 chapter titles and their page numbers for a book with biblical stories.
Page titled 'In the Beginning' with Bible verse Genesis 1:1-30, containing a short story about God's creation, a reminder of God's love, goodnight thoughts, a bedtime prayer, and an illustration of two children praying.Whimsical illustration of a flat Earth surrounded by water with a smiling sun on the left and crescent moon on the right, bees and birds flying, and flowers and trees around the edges.
Children's story titled 'A Sad Choice' with a Bible passage from Genesis 3:1-24 describing Adam and Eve's disobedience, God's love, and a bedtime prayer, on a blue gradient background with a blue shooting star and illustration of two children praying.Illustration of a boy and girl wearing leaf skirts in a forest with a rabbit and a deer; the girl holds a red apple.
buy story bookbuy coloring book

Where God’s Goodnight Stories Began

In Papa Bill's Words...

One night, as I tucked my granddaughter Maddy into bed, I could tell something was bothering her. At first she didn't want to talk about it. Eventually she told me: a bully at school had pushed her friend down, and the memory of it scared her. We talked. We prayed. And by the time I turned out the light, she was smiling — settled, safe, sure that everything was going to be okay.

But the walk out of her room stayed with me. I found myself wondering how many children fall asleep every night with something frightening as the last thing on their mind — a bully, something upsetting they saw on a screen, some piece of bad news they don't know what to do with.

That night is what started this book. I wanted to give children something better to fall asleep to: the assurance that no matter what happened that day, they are deeply, endlessly loved by God.

That night with Maddy became God's Goodnight Stories: From Creation to Forever.

And one thought stayed with me:

What if we could give children something better to carry into their dreams?

That's where God’s Goodnight Stories began.

I wanted to create stories a parent or grandparent could read at the end of the day that would gently turn a child's attention away from the noise of the world and toward the goodness of God.

Not a sermon. Not a theology lesson. Just a beautiful story, a few quiet minutes together, and a reminder before the lights go out:

God loves you.   God knows you.   God is with you.   And you can rest in His care.

If God’s Goodnight Stories helps even one child close their eyes at night feeling a little more loved, a little more secure, and a little closer to God, then writing it was worth it.

Snuggle in. Open the book. And let God's goodness have the final word of the day.

buy story bookbuy coloring book

Meet Papa Bill

Bill McLeod is a husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, and storyteller with a heart for helping children understand one simple but life-changing truth:

God loves them.

He knows them.

And He wants them to know Him.

For nearly two decades, Bill and his wife, Sue, have devoted much of their lives to helping children in their San Diego County community through Got Your Back San Diego, the nonprofit organization they founded to provide weekend food assistance to children who might otherwise go without. Through that work, Bill has gained a unique window into the challenges children face—and a deep conviction that children need more than their physical needs met. They need hope, security, encouragement, and the assurance that they are deeply loved. That same heart is behind God’s Goodnight Stories: From Creation to Forever.

Make the Stories Their Own

God's Goodnight Stories: The Coloring Book

The story doesn't have to end when the reading does. God’s Goodnight Stories: The Coloring Book gives children another way to engage with the people, places, and moments they've discovered in God’s Goodnight Stories: From Creation to Forever.

buy on amazon

Children can color familiar scenes from the stories while remembering what they've heard and learned. It's a fun, creative companion to the storybook—and the two together make a wonderful gift for children and grandchildren for birthdays, Christmas, Easter, baptisms, or simply as the beginning of a special bedtime tradition.

‍

A Bedtime Story Tonight.

A Truth They Can Carry for a Lifetime.

God's Goodnight Stories

Children won't stay little forever. But the things we place in their hearts while they are little can stay with them for the rest of their lives. One day, they may not remember every story you read together. They may not remember every bedtime conversation. But they can grow up remembering something far more important:

God made me.

He knows me.

God loves me.

And I can trust Him.

Give a child more than another bedtime story. Give them a few quiet minutes with you—and a truth they can carry for the rest of their life.

buy on amazon