Bedtime Stories Only a Grandparent Can Tell
by David Protess

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When the COVID pandemic struck in 2020, a grandfather in Chicago turned to storytelling to connect with the littlest members of his family on the east coast. At first, he read children’s books to them over FaceTime, but when the stories became repetitive, his son suggested writing his own. Soon “Popeye” (as his grandkids called him) was emailing full-blown stories for nightly reading. Collected in this volume are twelve of those tales, written between 2020 and the present, on subjects from whimsical fantasy to true family lore to historical people who changed the world. Emerging from the narratives is the notion that everyone, regardless of age, can have a positive impact on the world around them. In “A Present for My Sister”, a young boy keeps a promise to his family. In “Harry vs. the Coronavirus”, a modern-day kid learns about different ways of being a hero. And in “Beyond the Bulls”, the fight to right a wrong takes years, but justice finally wins out. In each story, young people strive to better themselves, their families and society. The magic of storytelling is not bound by age or location. It connects grandparents with their grandchildren through the written word—as if there is no distance between them at all.

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DAVID PROTESS is an award-winning investigative reporter and journalism educator. He served for 29 years as a Professor of Journalism and Director of the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University, and later launched the Chicago Innocence Project. Dr. Protess is the author of four books, including two about wrongful convictions with journalist Rob Warden: Gone in the Night and A Promise of Justice. He currently lives in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago, and continues to advocate for the wrongly convicted.

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Contributors

Author

David Protess

Illustrator

Amanda Titus

Compiled by

Rich Smith