Some of my most memorable childhood memories are those of my Grandmother reading my brother and I bedtime stories.  Every summer, we would stay a week with Grandma and she never skipped reading to us every night before bed.  Now that I am a parent, I get to pass on the same tradition to my own children.  Even with all the distractions that video games, television and the like provide, my children still love when mommy or daddy read them a bedtime story.  It is so important to share this quiet time together, not only to help our little ones drift off into sleep, but to widen their vocabulary and imagination.

What are some of your bedtime story favorites?  Are they classic child tales or stories that you have created yourself?  Can you believe that a national survey of parents found that many young kids prefer bedtime stories that mom and dad make up themselves – beating out such classics as “Goodnight Moon” and “Green Eggs and Ham”?  In an effort to find the best original bedtime tale, Carpenter Co. and SleepBetter.org have launched a national search, The Bedtime Stories Project, where visitors can submit their own original bedtime stories.  The winning story will be illustrated by award-winning artist Bill Nelson, who is the creator of the Sleepy Tales Book, as well as an excerpt of the story with a link to the full story in the Sleepy Tales Book.  How neat would it be to see your own story selected, and with illustration?  Better yet, how cool would your kids think you are?

One of America’s most beloved movie and TV star’s, Betty White, has also partnered with Carpenter Co. and SleepBetter.org on the Bedtime Stories Project.  Betty will encourage Americans to celebrate the bedtime story, and was just recently involved in a Los Angeles event on May 26 where she read from the Sleepy Tales Book and a story that was selected from submissions.  The following is a video from the event. [Read more...]