The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.

Hello, Imagine Domestic sanctuary.

It's nighttime.

The summer day was long, but is finally given way to dusk, and soon it will be dark.

You're in the bedroom with your two young children. They share a room because they're that age.

Not babies who will wake each other with their coups and cries. Those two had to be separated,

and not teenagers who will insist on having their own space.

But two children at that wonderful age of curiosity and accomplishment, kids who can tie their own shoes, but still cry at little heartbreaks and injustices

real or perceived.

Maybe you're the parent in this scenario, settled into a comfortable chair in the corner,

getting ready to read a little something to help these two bridge the gap between commotion

and calm, between sensory overload and sleep.

Days turn into dreams and you in the middle.

What will you reach for?

You'll try lots of things in those years that seem as though they'll last forever, and a lot of things that you try will be forgettable.

Some you might even abandon for lack of interest on your part or theirs. But some of them will be magical. The perfect mix of story and

thought where the kids are wrapped and so are you, a story that engages you, all of you, meeting each of you on your own level. For me, the memory of being in such a room at bedtime with my boys is indelible and a handful of books stand

out as being particularly good at setting the mood.

Some of the very best were the series of books about the moments by Tova Janssen.

Tova Janssen was born in 1914 and lived to the very end of the 20th century, even a little

beyond, dying in 2001.

She was born in Finland as part of the Swedish-speaking minority group there.

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