Bedtime Reading :: Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Sometimes it's hard to capture a serious picture when you are reading aloud to Spiderman.

Ethan and I finished our first chapter-book-at-bedtime read-aloud this week. A few weeks ago he asked if I would read Winnie-the-Pooh to him and, when looking around our bookshelves, it seemed that we no longer had any WtP picture books to speak of. Remembering that the chapter book has little illustrations scattered throughout, I picked that up and over the course of 2-3 weeks, on nights that he and I had the stamina to stay awake, we read about a half a chapter. Bedtime with this boy has always been my most consistent (and sacred!) time to read to him - we usually have a good 15 minutes of picture books that we roll through most nights - and this was our first attempt at something that continued. While we definitely aren't abandoning picture books, I think this is the start of something new for his bedtime routine. He is ready for a shorter chapter book and, of course, what mama turns down snuggling with her boy at bedtime to read. Not me. : )

He's already picked out that next one that we're going to read together: Dick King Smith's A Mouse Called Wolf. I'm pretty sure he's picked it solely based on the cover picture, but that's okay. I've been known to do that myself sometimes. : )

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.

- Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne