After a bedtime routine of bath, brushing teeth, and book reading, my daughters still often resist settling in under getting under the covers and settling in for the night. So we started a new routine where, once they are tucked in and quiet, we turn off all the lights and I read them a few pages from a chapter book (with my booklight). Not only does this give them incentive to get settled into bed, I figure, they're imaginations get a workout as they try to picture the story in their heads. Last week, my three-year-old pulled out Stuart Little. I wasn't sure if they were ready for it yet, but they seem mesmerized by the story so far, and it's so much fun to sink back into an old children's classic.

Stuart Little has delighted children for decades, but did you know that the book got off to a rocky start? The New Yorker has an excellent piece about the relationship between E.B. White, his wife Katherine, and book reviewer Anne Carroll Moore. Moore is credited with creating the idea of a children's library and story time, and became a powerful influence in children's literature. Though she pushed White for years to finish his book, once the manuscript was finished she fought its publication. Saying "I was never so disappointed in a book in my life," and that it had been written by "a sick mind," she refused to order it for the New York Public Library, and therefore influences libraries across the nation as well.

It's a story that's nearly as interesting as the book itself. Parents with an interest in children's literature, classics, or even the history of the New York City Library will find this piece of the past engrossing.