At the outset of this year, I put down a list of intentions. Number one on that list was to continue regular blogging. It seems the year has taken me by some other path. I’ve written little. And yet, I’ve read much more than I often do. A good portion of that reading has come in the way of bedtime stories. For a good long time, when putting the kids to bed, we would leave them with a nightlight and a few books. Sometime around the new year, they began keeping one another awake after we’d leave the room. Since then, after prayers and a Bible story, Adrienne or I will read from a chapter book. Most often, they do well to listen. We really appreciate that they love books. I was encouraged by Uncle Ed’s advice on Facebook:

I will remind everyone of my single piece of parental advice I always give new parents… that i knew was not going to fail me, and I attribute most of my kids performance to… Reading to them every night until they ask you not to. I swear, if there was one single thing you could do for your kids, that is it.

And, though, we don’t always read until they ask us to stop, we have worked our way through numerous books. Since the new year, Adrienne has been read through a portion of the Little House series. I have read through Hittie: The First 100 Years, Pippi Longstocking, A Bear Called Paddington, Charlotte’s Web, Little Pilgrim’s Progress, and Stuart Little.

Recently, if I’ve the choice, I most often would pick up non-fiction to read. So, personally, this time has been a nice return to the art and adventure of fictional story. Any suggestions for what we might read next?