#4 Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Moore (1947)
167 points
Well, it’s a classic for a reason. – Joanne Rousseau
This one I can still recite even though I last read at least 10 or more years ago. Again a classic that will endure and delight for a long time to come. – Christine Kelly
My daughter had this book read to her every night from the womb until she was almost 3. When I think of perfect bedtime stories, this is at the top of the list. – DeAnn Okamura
Time and again my readers would tell me that they loved this book because of what it did to their children. In March 1953, this book was spotlighted in Child Behavior, a syndicated parental-advice column with what I consider the sentence that defines this book. “It captures the two-year-old so completely that it seems almost unlawful that you can hypnotize a child off to sleep as easily as you can by reading this small classic.” And millions of parents walk around feeling guilt free.
A description of the plot (such as it is) courtesy of The Christian Science Monitor: “A little rabbit bids goodnight to each familiar thing in his moonlit room. Rhythmic, gently lulling words combined with warm and equally lulling pictures make this beloved classic an ideal bedtime book.”
The reference book I should really have on hand for this (and don’t) is Awakened by the Moon by Leonard Marcus, the definitive Margaret Wise Brown biography. I do not own it as I was never a Goodnight Moon fan (oh yeah, I said it!). In lieu of that, we shall have to look at other books instead for our info. 100 Best Books for Children makes note of the fact that when Clement Hurd first illustrated this book he made the boy and the grandmother human. This was changed into bunnies at a later date. And at editor Ursula Nordstrom’s suggestion the udders on the cow also became less anatomically correct (which is strange considering that Nordstrom would later defend the very human anatomical parts found in In the Night Kitchen).
Nothing popular is without controversy. Even something as sweet and innocent as Goodnight Moon. In the case of this book we have two controversial topics to refer to. #1 involves illegitimate children and an unworthy heir. #2 is the case of a missing cigarette.
Let’s look at #1 first. I’d consider the pedigree of this story sketchy, were it not so bloody well written. Apparently the article Runaway Money: A Children’s Classic, A 9-Year-Old-Boy And a Fateful Bequest appeared in The Wall Street Journal, though the sole copy I can find online appears on the reporter’s website. The long and the short of it is that Margaret Wise Brown willed a neighbor’s child as the benefactor of some of her books. Amongst them, Goodnight Moon. And for this particular kid, there couldn’t possibly have been a worse gift to give. It’s fascinating. Particularly when you get to his dubious claims regarding Ms. Brown’s relationship to himself.
Controversy #2 – Clement Hurd and his penchant for the smokes. Cast your minds back to 2005. An innocent time. A time when Harper Collins decided that maybe it would be a good idea to remove the cigarette from illustrator Clement Hurd’s photograph. CNET Ne
‘Charlotte’s Web’ tops the list of the 100 best books for kids (according to Scholastic’s Parent & Child magazine. Many of our favorites made the list, including the classics “Goodnight Moon” and “A Wrinkle In Time.” Did your... Read the rest of this post
Lotso hotso news today, folks. I hardly know where to begin. Let’s start with the big news that the illustrious editor Margaret K. McElderry passed away recently. I had mentioned The McElderry Book of Greek Myths in my Valentine’s Day post earlier this week. Maybe she was on my mind. In any case, there’s a great New York Times piece from 1997 on her. I’m fond of it, not least because Eden Ross Lispon mentions four books McElderry edited right off the bat and they are ”The Borrowers”, ”Ginger Pye”, ”The Dark Is Rising”, and ”The Changeover.” The Changevoer!! The book I keep hoping will be reprinted soon so as to leap on the Twilight train while there’s still time! In any case, I was unaware that Ms. McElderry worked in my own children’s room for years. Good to know. Fellow librarian and novelist Sara Ryan offers her own remembrance of Ms. McElderry and The New York Times wrote up one as well. Dunno that they needed to include the idea that We’re Going on a Bear Hunt is “un-P.C.” Um . . . maybe if you’re Stephen Colbert, but what precisely is “un-P.C.” about that book again? It’s not like Oxenbury depicted the kids packing heat, after all.
- In other news the Cybils Awards (the only awards awarded by bloggers) for children’s and YA literature were announced this week. The Cybils strive to balance great writing with child-friendliness. With those in mind I think their selections were top notch. You can see all the winners here. This year none of the books I nominated made the final cut, but I see that frequent commenter on this blog Eric Carpenter got TWO of his books on there! Well played, Eric. Well played indeed.
- I like it when my favorite folks end up linking to one another. I couldn’t have been more shocked, though, with a recent posting by Kate Beaton. She was writing a comic about Ada Lovelace (and where is the children’s biography on the fact that the first computer programmer was a woman, by the way?) and then mentioned in her notes that there were some Jules Verne illustrations out there that were “definitely worth a look”. I love me my Verne, and lo and behold who did Kate link to but none other than Ward Jenkins, he of this season’s Chicks Run Wild (by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen). Ward speaks of Jules Verne: The Man Who Invented the Future by Franz Born, illustrated by Peter P. Plasencia circa 1964. Worth your time.
- Carbon dating jackets with headless girls and cupcakes. The book that proves that kids will buy a hardcover to infinity if they like it (and no, it’s not Wimpy Kid).
There’s nothing more exciting than meeting a new small person who has embarked on the adventure of exploring the world–and that was the gift I was given when my buddies from Brooklyn came to town with their ten-month-old son. It was sheer, unadulterated joy to see Charlie enchant an entire coffeehouse without making a sound, simply through the radiance of his smile and the bouncing enthusiasm of his little body. He knows that everyone he sees will soon be his friend, and the delight that he finds in everything around him makes him irresistible.
Charlie’s father is a writer, and Charlie’s mother and I love many of the same books, so of course I wanted to know what have they read to Charlie? And of course, their answer was a story.
It was the end of the day and Charlie and his mother were snuggled together, when she realized that this was the perfect evening for their first bedtime story. She found Goodnight Moon, arranged the pillows on her bed to the proper level of support and comfort, placed the book so that Charlie would be able to appreciate the pictures while she read–and then Charlie’s father entered the room.
” Are you going to read Charlie his first bedtime story?” he asked, and then said, “No–wait.” He went off to his bookshelves and came back with the perfect words for his son’s introduction to the ritual of bedtime reading. That night Charlie’s parents prepared him for sleep by reading him The Odyssey.
As a parent who read Out of Africa, The Wasteland, and A Child’s Christmas in Wales aloud to my infant sons, I understood and loved this story. When we introduce our babies to words read aloud, we want those words to resonate, to imprint our children with the majesty of literature–then from there we turn to more conventional choices that are filled with color and delight and pleasure.
It’s no wonder that people not only love books, they are deeply attached to them. For many of us, being read to is one of our first memories, and our love for language on a page is intertwined with our memories of being warm, being snuggled, being secure, and being loved.
What was the first book you read aloud to your child?
Speaking of Mr. Snicket, what's he been up to these days? Apparently he's been reading to his three-year-old child, and it's crystal clear that the man does not like what he sees.
He’s loath to name titles, but we do get talking about that old standby Goodnight Moon. “It’s actually a pretty creepy book - I mean, good night noises everywhere? It’s not really a harmless book. It’s quite beautiful, but very strange.
“But what my son appreciates most is the presence of a train.” I offer a development theory I’ve heard, that says boys progress from interest in trains to cars to planes. “I haven’t read much of the mumbo jumbo behind it,” Handler replies. “I just wish I was as sure as he is about what automatically makes a good book.”
A very big thank you to
Big A little a for the link.
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Thank you, Betsy, for contributing to the latest StorySnoops blog post!
My husband, in his mind, named our second daughter for Ada Lovelace. In my mind, we got it from the novel Cold Mountain. Oh well, at least she’ll have two stories to tell.
And, yes, she needs a biography. Lovelace, not my daughter.
thank you! as a long-time, hardcore fan of The Changeover, where do I sign up for that campaign?
I remember entering the Margaret K. McElderry Picture Book Contest year after year in the 90’s. The winning book would get a publishing contract. I can’t seem to find much info on it now, but it kept me submitting stories.
LOVE the Verne illustrations — thanks for putting them on my radar! Also, thanks for the mention of the mentor post (fitting, really, as the whole thing was sparked by your FACTOTUM review.)
video witch doctor
video witch doctor
video witch doctor
Nathan — I entered that contest, too! (in its last year, 2002) I didn’t win the contest, but I won bigger: working on my entry gave me both an appreciation for kids’ books and also a new career. I wish I’d thought to thank Margaret herself. Thanks for another juicy post, Fuse.
Betsy, that’s a lot to digest. Thanks for all the great links! I already read COLLECTING CHILDREN’S BOOKS and PW CHILDREN’S BOOKSHELF, but I hadn’t seen the others.
Unfortunately, when I tried to click on your link to Audrey Wood’s new blog, I got a 404 error.
Blast. I shall correct immediately. Thanks for the heads up!