Born in 1910, Margaret Wise Brown always wanted to be a writer, but her journey towards the almost unprecedented success she eventually achieved, was not direct (how could it be? If you set out to create a children’s classic along the level of Goodnight Moon, you couldn’t do it). Brown went into education, and was disheartened by the books for kids that she saw out there in the publishing world, in school libraries. She had other ideas, radical for the time: Maybe there didn’t need to be a Sunday School lesson in a children’s book (“Be good,” “obey your parents”, “don’t tell a lie”, and etc.) Maybe a child learning to read would thrill to a story made up only of observations of what the child looked around and saw in his or her own life. After getting her degree in education, Brown worked as a teacher, and eventually became connected to Harper & Brothers, as an editor of children’s books. From there, she started to write her own.
She was an interesting and bohemian woman. She wrote other children’s books, some better than others. Runaway Bunny is also beloved. Goodnight Moon, though, is the show-stopper. (Fans of the book, if you haven’t already, read All of my issues with the Good Night Moon bedroom. Tears of laughter streamed down my face the first time I read it.)
Goodnight light
And the red balloon
Goodnight bears
Goodnight chairs
Goodnight kittens
And goodnight mittens
Goodnight clocks
And goodnight socks
Goodnight little house
And goodnight mouse
It’s a list of objects with no commentary. It’s very straightforward and almost banal. But they stop being “just” objects, but instead symbolic of the love present in the whole scene. “Bears” “chairs” “kittens” are not banal at all to a child who loves them. The book is a child’s prayer (“And God bless mummy and daddy, and God bless the bears, and God bless my mittens …”) The list is compulsive and spontaneous, the child’s eyes scanning the room, mentioning each object as it comes into view. This is the child’s whole world.
I am not overstating things when I say that the final three lines give me goosebumps every time I read them (and as an aunt of many small nieces and nephews, I read this book out loud constantly).
Goodnight stars
Goodnight air
Goodnight noises everywhere
Margaret Wise Brown died unexpectedly from an embolism. She was just 42 years old.
Goodnight Moon is one of the most successful children’s books of all time.
Oh I feel the same way – that list is like a prayer. The little child’s world…just the simplest of things – mittens…a comb, a brush, and a bowl full of mush – and it’s also like they’re all going to bed, too. Or like you’d tell the child that, so the child would be more amenable to the idea of going to bed. I know, I’m rambling. And yes – I always got goosebumps reading those last lines, too. It’s a treasure of a book.
Jayne – yes! All the objects are alive and they are going to sleep with the child (or the little bunny) … so it’s okay to let go, and go to sleep.
Gulp!!!
All without ever SAYING that explicitly …
Just a perfect perfect book.
I love this book. I’ve read it to my daughters many times, and I always get goosebumps at the last lines.
After hundreds of readings, I noticed that the last few pages come after the little bunny has fallen asleep, and the mother (grandmother?) bunny – or the universe – is taking on finishing the list. Almost like a prayer, or a promise.
Look at all the versions in other languages! Amazing.
How wonderful that Margaret Wise Brown‘s power can still reach us as adults. For me, the book that framed my dog-centric consciousness as a child was “Mister Dog: The Dog Who Belonged to Himself” (illustrated by the magical Garth Williams). Her words and her life have continued to fascinate me. I hope that you have had a chance to read Leonard Marcus’ bio of M.W.B., Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon. She had a complicated life, but managed to distill it into books that can teach all of us how to write and how to perceive the world around us. Thanks for writing this, Sheila.
Appreciatively,
Moira
I loved reading Goodnight Moon to my girls. We made a game out of finding the mouse in the picture of each room. This cartoon has been hanging on our frig for years. Happy Birthday Margaret!
I love that book. its cool to see the covers with the different languages. Who doesn’t love that book?
Did you have Little Fur Family as a kid? Right up there with Goodnight Moon, in my opinion.
Hmmm – I do not know Little Fur Family – I’ll ask my sisters. They would definitely know!
miss you! xoxo
Oh, and I remember reading an interview with David Mamet a while back, who cited her as the greatest children’s author of all time.
Ooh! I will track that interview down – that is so great!
I would add The Big Red Barn to your Auntie Sheila reading list also by MWB. It has the same gentle sing-song rhythm and peaceful, child’s eye view of the barnyard when all the people are away. There is an opportunity for the child to make little animal sounds and count eggs as you read. And there are some unexpected inclusions in this little world. It also ends with “the moon sailed high… in the dark night sky.” It’s so ethereal and other-worldly and yet completely of our world. It is as much a relaxing treat for the reader as the readee.
I don’t think I know that one – I bet my sisters do! It sounds beautiful. She was so gifted, so tuned in.
The title is not nearly as provocative as GNM and might put some off as just another barnyard book, but it is head and shoulders above your run of the mill farm book. Without lessening GNM in the least as the best going to bed book ever I would say that BRB is more. It is a level more complex and incorporates day into night. It is good for the awake child for that reason not just sleepy bedtime child. While the soothing, gentle rhythm will appeal to the smallest baby, the slightly more complex world will grow with a child for years. Can you tell that I get very excited about really good children’s literature?
I love children’s books too. I have a whole collection, many of which have been with me since I was 5 years old. I need them around me! The O’Malleys have our family favorites. Like rites of passage, etc.
Lovely post, Sheila. The first few times I read Goodnight Moon to my kids, I didn’t get it. I was like, why is this so popular? And then the more we read it, the more I got it. It’s really a wonderful little book.
Sarah – It’s so simple! It has no plot! Like … what’s the big deal?