There are dozens of others that I flip through at the library, get four pages in at nighttime and then just start ad libbing because the story is so terrible.

There is, however, an author I will gladly engage an “again” wish from kids every time they ask; Oliver Jeffers.

If you don’t recognize his name, you’ll easily remember his art work.

How To Catch A Star is the story of a boy who longs to own a star and eventually catches one. The Way Back Home is about the boy and his alien friend co-operating to get off the moon. Up and Down and our favorite, Lost and Found, follow the story of the boy and his best friend, a penguin.

In 2008, the simple tale of the boy and the penguin he found riding to the South Pole and back, Lost and Found, was turned into an animated special.

His pictures tell incredible stories and the words on the page are few. Jeffers‘ imagination is stunning. His story telling is simple. His artwork is subtle.

Simply, his books don’t suck.

What are your favorite (and least favorite) bedtime books?

I play with the iPhone at the park.  I will excuse myself at dinner to go to the bathroom (check my messages).  I am guilty of being plugged in to the borg when I should be experiencing the wonder of my children.

So I write the articles about unplugging as an exercise.  The technological addiction is passing on to my children.  My youngest, 22-month old Charlie gets excited by the slightest glimpse of an iPad, iPhone or portable video player.  He will swipe and swap between games and videos all day – if you let him.

So I write articles about turning off the power to try and bring the practice to my own life.

Lately the mantra has moved to bedtime stories as the new book, Goodnight iPad, has been woven into our night night routine.

Author David Milgram wrote the parody book under the pen name Ann Droyd. The classic original, Goodnight Moon, written by Margaret Wise Brown in 1947 gets a swift update as the quiet fireplace and toys are replaced by a raucous family that would rather play games, watch tv and read eBooks than go to bed.

Each device is eventually unplugged by a frustrated mother who curls up at the end with a simple flashlight and a copy of the classic before bed.

As with each night time tome, my sons and I play a game of “I Spy” with the illustrations in the book.  They quickly identify all the technology and gaming gadgets while simpler things, like night stands and fireplaces go unnoticed.

It’s time to unplug and get back to the simpler things, I keep reminding myself. Hopefully this book will help remind my kids too.

Goodnight iPad will be released on October 27, but is available for pre-order now.

Those books are great and have brought back great memories. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Caps For Sale and others have been fine trips down memory lane for me. Learning some new favorites, like those by Oliver Jeffers or the Skippyjon Jones series have been fun too. But this week a new night time book was brought into rotation – from our iPad.

I have a number of fun learning apps for my kids on the device, and a few books too, but The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore was not just something to leave them lying on the carpet messing with on their own, this was an entry into Bedtime Stories 2.0 that was to be shared by father and son.

The The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore iPad app (book) comes from an award winning animated short film of the same produced by Moonbot Studios.

Its a video game, its a movie, its a story.

These are the kinds of literary experiences our kids will grow up with. There’s the novelty of the page turn to break each interactive experience, but each step of the story lets the kids dive in and twirl a house, tape together a ripped image or make the books dance in the wind.

This kind of story experience is something that takes what lives in a child’s imagination and manifests it on the screen. Bedtime books will never be the same.

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore – $4.99 in the App Store

You don't want to know what they saw.

Teens have sex.  It's true. We don't want to visualize it, we don't want to imagine it, but it happens.

It happens.  Teens are having sex and now parents are wanting to let them have sex in the home so they can control safety and promiscuity. 

It's just like the parents who will host the house parties for their kids, they're going to drink anyway, might as well do it in a safe environment.  Right?

I'm all for empowering kids with knowledge and being there to walk them through the tough decisions in life. I fully endorse parents letting kids on Facebook at an early age so that tech savvy kids can be raised.  My argument for that was "they're going to do it anyway, they might as well do it with you by their side."

But when it comes to the more titilating topics, like sex and drugs and booze, my constitution wavers.

My ex-wife's daughter was 14-18 when we were together.  I saw her grow from an awkward girl in oversized hoodies to hide her body into a designer bag loving teen who could never find shorts short enough or tank tops tight enough.  It was in grade 11 when she got her first serious boyfriend and my ex-wife would allow the boyfriend to sleep over.

It wasn't my choice, but it wasn't my say.  I can't fully describe what it's like to knock on your step-daughter's door on a saturday morning to invite a couple of teens downstairs for breakfast.

I'm 14 years away with having to deal with this scenario with my young boys now, and I'm guessing by 2025 this sort of permissive parenting will be widespread.

What's your take?  Are your teens having sleepovers?

Then, magically, mysteriously, spontaneously, in the dead of night, the third wheel appears. And it’s not the coquettish coed of your dreams, it’s little Cindy Lou Who tugging at the corner of your bedsheet asking to join the party because of monsters or something.

So in she crawls. At first, it’s fine. You’re a little tight, but you can deal. But the kid likes to wiggle. The worm likes to squirm and while you may be lucky enough to avoid a knifing knee in the ribs or a flailing fist in the eye, you can’t avoid the squeeze play the child pulls.

She’ll twist and turn and turn your bed into some alphabet lesson. If it’s not an H, then it’s an A. She’s either across your waits or up in your face and it’s something you can’t fight.

The next time you’re awoken by a screaming “Daaaaaa-deeeeeee” somewhere in the dark of night, it’s best to wave the flag of surrender right away.

Give up your territory.

Go to the couch.

This isn’t the threesome you’ve been dreaming of.

Illustration from Christopher Niemen in the New York Times.