I wait in dread for my child’s response to the question: Which books shall we read tonight? Let me guess. Yup. Dog by Matthew Van Fleet. Sandra Boynton’s The Going to Bed Book. And “rhyme book" (otherwise known as Nursery Treasury by Jonathan Langley, which I believe is out of print, but you can find used copies on BN.com). These are my daughter’s current faves and that means reading them—night after night after night. Groan. Much as I like these books—each are charming and delightful in their own way—I yearn for a little variety.

Thank goodness she goes through phases. Not long ago it was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? My husband and I had the book memorized; we knew the order of the animals and could recite each line by heart. Some day—we cling to the idea—there will be a new favorite. In the meantime, you’d never know my daughter had heard the book a million times. She always seems to find something new to focus on with each reading.

It helps to know that this is how little kids learn language and pre-reading skills. Young children benefit from repetition and knowing exactly what will happen next. It gives them a feeling of mastery over the story. Before you know it, your child will be pretending to read to you—turning the pages with authority, mimicking your tone of voice, and saying the lines that she’s heard from you (sometimes word for word!).

Still, there are nights when I’m BORED to tears. I’ve tried tucking her favorite books behind others on the shelf. She finds them. I’ve tried enticing her with new tales. She listens to new stories with interest. But when we’re done, she promptly requests her old standbys. I confess: I’ve even tried skipping some of the nursery rhymes in her “rhyme book.” “How about that,” she demands before I can turn the page. Darn.

Hence, I’ve come up with some survival strategies to make the most of my situation. After reading the words on the page, I often add my own commentary (“Look at that poor piggie hiding under the stairs. Why do you think he’s hiding?”). Sometimes I’ll start a sentence and my daughter will finish it. Other nights we make up names for all the dogs in her doggie book, count the number of mice on a given page, make noises that go with each animal, or see how many things we can spot that are blue.

But—and this is key—I always follow my child’s cue. There are times when she’ll happily follow me off the beaten track. But some evenings she just wants Mommy to read the story, nothing more. So I do. All too soon, she’ll be reading her own stories and there will be less snuggling over books. Keeping that in mind, I savor the moment—even if it means reading Goodnight Moon a zillion times.

Sandra Lee Rella, mother of two, is a freelance editor and writer, and a former children's book review editor.