Some of the best conversations I had with my sons when they were growing up were related to bedtime read alouds. My favorite one happened one morning when my oldest son (then 8) was complaining, toothbrush in hand, about having to get up and get ready for school. My youngest (then 5) answered importantly, “If you don’t go to school, you won’t learn to read. You’ll be like Peter!” I grinned at my five-year-old in giddy delight. We had been snuggling on the bed, just the three of us, reading a chapter of Johanna Spyri’s Heidi every evening. My youngest child had obviously made a connection to the character of Peter and how his inability to read was a problem. Over the years, the three of us had many conversations about characters in books. They were often the point of reference for understanding something new or working out a family problem. When you read with a child, you create a shared experience that you both can refer to later. These conservations can be private jokes, such as, “Are you pretending to be Joey Pigza?” (Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos). Or they can be sources of comfort, “I can be as brave as Irene.”(Brave Irene by William Steig). And whenever they happen, they will create memories as cuddly as the minutes you spent reading together side by side.