4. The Enormous Crocodile by Roald Dahl

I was on a role so I decided to read another Dahl book. This book is hilarious. It's all about a crocodile who wants to go and eat some children. Unfortunately for him, he brags about his super clever plans to all the animals in the forest. That comes back to foil his plans later. It's a really cute little book and very funny. The illustrations are wonderful too. I'd recommend it to anyone.

3. The Vicar of Nibbleswicke by Roald Dahl

I have to say upfront that I really don't like movies based on Roald Dahl's books. They just always seem a little wierd to me. Whenever I see them, it makes me think that I really don't like him as an author. But then, every once in a while, I pick up one of his books and am completely impressed and fascinated. He is such a great writer and his books are always laugh-out-loud funny. This book is about a vicar who has a bad case of dyslexia. He realizes he has this problem as a child and seems to conquer it as he goes through school. But when he is appointed vicar of his hometown, he gets so nervous that his brain freaks out and he starts saying lots of words backwards. He doesn't realize that he's doing it, and the townspeople aren't sure what to think. It makes for a lot of really funny situations. It's a great book to talk about the problems of dyslexia and just a short, funny read. Roald Dahl actually wrote it near the end of his life and donated the copyright and all rights to the Dyslexia Institute (in London). He also talked his longtime illustrator Quentin Blake into doing the pictures. It's definitely worth reading.

61. The Kingfisher Treasury of Stories for Six Year Olds

Emma really wanted to finish this collection quickly because she just turned 7 and was worried that the stories may not apply anymore. I'm not sure how they determine the stories that are best for 6 year olds but these are fun story collections anyway. They seem to be a combination of classic and international fairy and folk tales. I like them and Emma really likes them. She likes more non-traditional stuff so this is right up her alley. I would recommend any of these collections to expand your kids story selection.

42. Kingfisher Treasury of Princess Stories chosen by Fiona Waters

This is another one of Emma's choices for bedtime stories. We can count on her to find some new and interesting series of books for us to read. This is her latest one. It's a great collection of all kinds of princess stories. There are some retellings of some old classics, like the princess and the pea, and lots of new ones like the one about the princess that loves driving backhoes. All of them are funny though. They make for great bedtime stories. They're long enough but not too long. And like I said, they made us laugh a lot. I would definitely recommend it.

94. The King's Equal by Katherine Paterson

This is an original fairy tale. It tells the story of a selfish prince who is cursed that he can't be crowned king until he finds a princess that is his equal. Of course that is hard when you think you are the best person in the world by far. The story shows how the prince is humbled and finds someone far better than he in the most unexpected place. It was cute. A good read aloud book.

89. Esther's Gift: A Mitford Christmas Story by Jan Karon

This is the second Christmas short story based on Jan Karon's Mitford series. This time, one of the residents of Mitford, Esther Bolick is contemplating her annual baking of several orange marmalade cakes as presents for her neighbors. However, she makes the mistake of asking her husband to figure out exactly how much each cake is costing to make. It turns out to be a staggering amount and she must decide which is more important: the money or the joy the cakes bring her neighbors. It is really a fun book and made me think about the intangibles at Christmastime.

88. The Mitford Snowmen: A Christmas Story by Jan Karon

This is a cute little Christmas short story based on Jan Karon's Mitford series. If you haven't read any of this series, it might be worth your while to try it out. Jan Karon is a great Christian writer. The main character in the series, Father Tim, is an episcopalien (I think) priest. The stories are set in a little North Carolina (again I think, I haven't read them in a while) town, very small town South. This little book was made as a gift book and has some really cute snowmen pictures in it. Hallmark also did a series of snowmen ornaments based on this book. The book itself tells the story of a spontaneous snowman building contest that takes place on Mitford's main street. It is very cute.

87. Let It Snow by Debbie Macomber

This is a short little romance story. It reminded me of one of the stories you would read in Woman's Day or something. It was cute and really short. It is the story of two people who meet on a plane that gets stranded at an airport. They decide to share the last rental car available and hilarity ensues (or romance or something). I think it was originally put out as some kind of promotional thing at Christmas. I picked it up off the library's Christmas display. I liked it. John would have said that it was very cheesy but I say that Christmas is just the right season for cheese.