We read in our king size bed.

I have 6 yr old twins who share a room. We don't read in their room because we have a 7 watt bulb in their overhead fixture so they don't crank up the light at night, so they get into jammies, get a snack and then brush teeth and read books on our living room couch and then go back upstairs when we are done reading.

Sometimes on the living room couch, sometimes my bed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids are much older and we sit in the living room.

OP here. I dread moving the operation too much because then we'll have books all over the house. At the moment they are all nicely contained in the kids' bedroom...

My ideal house has books all over the house.

+1. Books in every room. Reading isn't just for bedtime! The extra 60 seconds of tidying at the end of the day is worth seeing kids reading in different places at random intervals of downtime during the day.

We like to all pile on a bed together. For OP, I guess that would have to be her bed. I also sometimes lean up against the wall and let the kids sit on small folded blankets because it better helps the 2 yr. old stay put when we do that, otherwise there can be lap fights!

Kids are 4 and 7; they each get to choose one book (or chapter). Each child can listen to the other's book as well as their own, or go off and play during the other kid's book. They usually listen to both.

We sit on the floor. I tuck one of their pillows behind my back and lean against a wall. For a while, one kid sat on each of my legs, cuddled against me, but they're getting too big and heavy for that now . They normally sit next to me.

For a while we used one of those big bean bag "chairs" on the floor. That worked pretty well too, but I think we've outgrown that.

We do picture books during the day, but bedtime reading is for all the kids, and we've always done chapter books, first one chapter of something funny like Wayside school, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle or Pippi Longstocking, then one chapter of something with a different tone like Laura Ingalls, 5 Little Peppers or Eight Cousins. Usually by the time the second chapter is done, only the older kids are awake, and we discuss the chapter in any way they want (historical vs. contemporary, foreshadowing, or anything else). I've always had the little ones around me on the couch, in a squashy chair or on the floor while we're doing picture books, but bedtime means that the little kids who fall asleep during the first chapter must be in bed before I start reading, the kids that fall asleep during the second chapter have to be in bed before I begin that one, and the older kids sit with me in the hall.

Perhaps put a big comfy soft stuffed animal against a wall, then you can all lean against that during stories.

The kids have queen beds. We read in oldest DD's room, all cuddled on her bed. Then I carry youngest DD to her room, unless the girls have decided to have a 'sleepover' with both in oldest's room that night.