Therapeutic

Decades of research, as well as a recent Time magazine article, has suggested that reading a great novel can be therapeutic.

Come to think of it, stories might give us better insight than a scientific paper, or create a stronger bonding between the reader and the family than any counsellor.

For daddies too busy with work to spend time with children - and I count myself in - the best prescription is Richard Paul Evans' The Christmas Box.

The young man in this fiction has been working hard to build up his career. There is not much time left for his daughter Jenna.

"He's gone a lot" is the way Jenna described her dad.

"Starting a new business takes a lot of work," Jenna's mum explained, "and a lot of time."

Jenna looked up sadly. "Is working better than here?"

"No. No place is better than home."

"Then why does Daddy want to be there instead of here?"

So simple, yet so profound.