The poem that starts "Now I lay me down to sleep" was published in Boston around 1690 in what was reportedly the first schoolbook published in America. The book, titled The New England Primer, was a mostly religious text that was adopted throughout the English settlements.

Along with lessons on the alphabet and reading, the primer included Protestant teachings, including questions and answers from stories in the Bible, poems, The Lord's Prayer, and Evening Prayer for a Child:

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep;
If I should die before I wake,
I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.

More than 5 million copies of the textbook were distributed.