That line from Goodnight Moon fascinated me. What a strangely beautiful bit of absurdism in a children’s book!
This article really makes clear the beauty of the pacing and care for language in her work. Brown apparently spent several years crafting language of each of her stories. It’s quite subtle but much more evident when compared to some of the clumsier modern children’s books that I’ve read.
Also I think there are real insights for parents to be gained from considering her work. Brown really takes the subjective, sensory experiences of children’s seriously. It’s not easy for an adult to remember the sensations of feeling the world for the first time but i think it’s really important to try to have empathy for how children experience life.
One thing I've noticed as a parent is that there's a very clear delineation between children's books written for the love of children, and children's books written for a) $, b) as PR for the [often celebrity] author, and c) as political statement (or about a politicized situation/event). It's unfortunate there aren't universally acknowledged sub-genres of children's books, as there are for YA & adults. Every once in a while you'll stumble upon a gem, but almost universally the stories kids want to hear on repeat are simple, imaginative and relatable - just like Goodnight Moon.
Children especially at a couple years old have terrific memories and a lot of time where it's dark, they're expected to fall asleep, and they are not actually asleep. Goodnight Moon gives them lots of things to think about in that context.
>What a strangely beautiful bit of absurdism in a children’s book!
I doubt that very many in the book's audience have been able to appreciate it as such. Instead, it seems prone to plant in the listener the seed of imprecise logocentric thinking. The phrase reminds me of "The nothing itself nothings", a non-ironic statement, whose ilk I had thought we had left behind in a previous generation.
I didn’t understand the appeal of the book as it seems like any other book (why is there an old rabbit chilling out in the room until the rabbit falls asleep?), until the above episode pointed out that there was simply no books like that before.
Goodnight Moon is a fascinating book. My older child had noticed a few details which I hadn't:
1. The clocks are actually showing the appropriate time as it gets later in the evening.
2. There is a picture, on the wall, of a rabbit fishing, trying to catch a smaller rabbit, using a carrot as a lure. I surely didn't expect the "Why is the rabbit trying to catch the other rabbit. Rabbits don't eat other rabbits, do they?" question.
3. The book on the nightstand is actually the "Goodnight Moon" book itself.
4. There is slightly less "mush" in the bowl after the mouse eats it.
As an author, voice actor, and the dad of a three-year-old, there is something about "Goodnight Moon" that is a pleasure to read aloud. The pacing is excellent, the syllables deftly selected. My favorite passage is at the end: "Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere." There is something satisfying in the cadence of the words. It's difficult to articulate why this is.
Similarly satisfying kids' books: "Tomorrow Most Likely", and "All the World."
Her most satisfying book to read out loud is "The Little Island". If you liked "Goodnight Moon" then you'll find this to be an absolute treat. It's also a somewhat odd story, but it's the book that I enjoyed reading to my son the most.
BTW, the book that I disliked reading the most was "The Little Engine That Could". It felt jarring to read -- like I never could quite catch my breath or my rhythm.
I have not read this book, but the line you reference seems like fairly standard poetry to me. Is that what it reminds you of? Or something else altogether?
The illustrations by Clement Hurd are delightful too. I particularly enjoy the small elements of continuity — the mouse that makes repeated appearances, the book sitting on the nightstand, and the sense of passing time conveyed by the clocks and the moon in the window.
Every parent looks back on the books they read to their little ones. But it's not so much the books themselves that are so special, but those irreplaceable and so-brief years where you had a baby, then a toddler, to read bedtime books to.
It doesn't have to stop! We have been reading Lord of the Rings to my 8 and 10 year old before bed for months now. We read for 10-15 minutes, then they read their own books for a while. They still love the time together. Our 12 year old is definitely too cool for it now, though :-).
I agree otherwise. We've got a nice little library of children's books, and no one to read them to now. I still recite Goodnight Moon and Very Hungry Caterpillar from memory from time to time, like when we start reading LoTR. "So, last time Merry and Pippen had been captured by orcs... 'In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf'" always gets a laugh.
> Studying the opinions and physical responses that her stories elicited made her feel like a literary detective; she called the exercise chasing “leads.” She later declared that children were the true authors of many of her books: she was “merely an ear and a pen.”
This was the most fascinating detail to me about Brown’s writing process. She was essentially doing “user testing” with her drafts — observing how children responded to see what worked and what didn’t.
This was one of my favorite books to read to both my children. Others have touched on all the reasons why so I'll throw out another couple books for any aspiring parents:
- The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
- The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don & Audrey Wood (or The Strawberry book as we called it)
I'm extremely fond of the Strawberry book. I don't think I'll ever not love it. It's such a fun story that slyly places the reader as a character in the story. It's just a little bit sneaky.
And, the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. I would pay real money for a framed copy of the disguise scene. It makes me laugh to this day.
We have pretty much every Sandra Boynton book. They are fantastic. Plus a good number of them are songs and she has collaborated with tons of musicians to make them very special. Perfect Piggies [1] is a total ear worm and here is a song done by the Bacon Brothers [2].
While we do ready The Going to Bed Book every.single.night, I think my favorite is Snuggle Puppy - A Little Love Song [3]. I read it a little different than how that video is, but its really sweet and pure.
One of the best literary long-tail effects of having a child has been that my wife and I became huge Margret Wise Brown fans. She was a fine artist and a true blueblooded bohehmian, and I'm grateful I got to "know" her & her work.
When I read to my pre-literate children, I'd say the title and they would have to repeat it after me. Then I'd say the author's name, again they'd have to repeat it back. Then I'd read the rest of the book.
They wondered why they had to do that, and sometimes they even resisted. Then I'd play a game of not being able to go on until they said it.
Anyway, as they grew they knew the authors of all their favorite books. To this day (in their 30's) they know the names.
Interesting article. A lot of the stuff in there really doesn't surprise me though if you view it through the lens of how tough the times were - if born in 1910, there's WWI and the depression during one's youth and early adulthood.
I love reading this to my 4-5 year olds. To make the book more fun for them, we also point out fine details throughout the book and put them to bed as well :)
I was never read Goodnight Moon as a child, so I have no sense of nostalgia for the book. And despite the overwhelming pressure society places on me reading it to my toddler, neither of us have any meaningful connection to the book.
In contrast, you had A.A. Milne, Dr. Suess, and Dorothy Kunhardt all publishing some amazing (and radical!) children's books over decade earlier!
I’m glad she helped inspire today’s children's authors to be more developmentally appropriate and those authors have gone on to produce better work as a result.
Goodnight Moon is an interesting book for sure (the other not so much). But what we are seeing is acclaim for another landed gentry getting her chance to 'do her thing'.
A couple of quick bits from her wiki:
"Brown was born in Brooklyn, New York, the middle child of three of Maude Margaret (Johnson) and Robert Bruce Brown.[1][3] She was the granddaughter of politician Benjamin Gratz Brown. Her parents had an unhappy marriage. She was initially raised in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood, and attended Chateau Brilliantmont boarding school in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1923,[4][5] while her parents were living in India and Canterbury, Connecticut. In 1925, she attended The Kew-Forest School.[6] She began attending Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, in 1926, where she did well in athletics. After graduation in 1928, Brown went on to Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia."
- granddaughter of politician, boarding school in Switzerland
"Brown was an avid, lifelong beagler and was noted for her ability to keep pace, on foot, with the hounds.[7]"
- foxhunter
"While at Hollins she was briefly engaged.[12] She dated, for some time, an unknown "good, quiet man from Virginia,"[13] had a long-running affair with William Gaston,[14][15] and had a summer romance with Preston Schoyer.[16] In the summer of 1940, Brown began a long-term relationship with Blanche Oelrichs (nom de plume Michael Strange), poet/playwright, actress, and the former wife of John Barrymore. The relationship, which began as a mentoring one, eventually became romantic and included co-habiting at 10 Gracie Square in Manhattan beginning in 1943.[17] As a studio, they used Cobble Court, a wooden house later moved to Charles Street. Oelrichs, who was 20 years Brown's senior, died in 1950."
- relationships with men and women. Is this 'radical'? Even in 1920?
"In 1952, Brown met James Stillman 'Pebble' Rockefeller Jr. at a party, and they became engaged."
--
The point is that many people are capable of creating wonderful literature, being acclaimed as radical, etc. Its not that hard when you granddad was governor of Missouri and a potential VP, you went to school in Switzerland, and you are engaged to a Rockefeller.
[+] [-] bglazer|4 years ago|reply
That line from Goodnight Moon fascinated me. What a strangely beautiful bit of absurdism in a children’s book!
This article really makes clear the beauty of the pacing and care for language in her work. Brown apparently spent several years crafting language of each of her stories. It’s quite subtle but much more evident when compared to some of the clumsier modern children’s books that I’ve read.
Also I think there are real insights for parents to be gained from considering her work. Brown really takes the subjective, sensory experiences of children’s seriously. It’s not easy for an adult to remember the sensations of feeling the world for the first time but i think it’s really important to try to have empathy for how children experience life.
[+] [-] eitally|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mbg721|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] prvc|4 years ago|reply
I doubt that very many in the book's audience have been able to appreciate it as such. Instead, it seems prone to plant in the listener the seed of imprecise logocentric thinking. The phrase reminds me of "The nothing itself nothings", a non-ironic statement, whose ilk I had thought we had left behind in a previous generation.
[+] [-] xattt|4 years ago|reply
I didn’t understand the appeal of the book as it seems like any other book (why is there an old rabbit chilling out in the room until the rabbit falls asleep?), until the above episode pointed out that there was simply no books like that before.
[+] [-] rdtsc|4 years ago|reply
1. The clocks are actually showing the appropriate time as it gets later in the evening.
2. There is a picture, on the wall, of a rabbit fishing, trying to catch a smaller rabbit, using a carrot as a lure. I surely didn't expect the "Why is the rabbit trying to catch the other rabbit. Rabbits don't eat other rabbits, do they?" question.
3. The book on the nightstand is actually the "Goodnight Moon" book itself.
4. There is slightly less "mush" in the bowl after the mouse eats it.
[+] [-] 9erdelta|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] russdill|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DamnInteresting|4 years ago|reply
Similarly satisfying kids' books: "Tomorrow Most Likely", and "All the World."
[+] [-] kenjackson|4 years ago|reply
BTW, the book that I disliked reading the most was "The Little Engine That Could". It felt jarring to read -- like I never could quite catch my breath or my rhythm.
[+] [-] mensetmanusman|4 years ago|reply
Every time I would say ‘Oops’ while they were on my lap, I would jump my knee up a bit and they would laugh hysterically.
[+] [-] frutiger|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] divbzero|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] khazhoux|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jawilson2|4 years ago|reply
I agree otherwise. We've got a nice little library of children's books, and no one to read them to now. I still recite Goodnight Moon and Very Hungry Caterpillar from memory from time to time, like when we start reading LoTR. "So, last time Merry and Pippen had been captured by orcs... 'In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf'" always gets a laugh.
[+] [-] divbzero|4 years ago|reply
This was the most fascinating detail to me about Brown’s writing process. She was essentially doing “user testing” with her drafts — observing how children responded to see what worked and what didn’t.
[+] [-] redshirtrob|4 years ago|reply
- The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
- The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don & Audrey Wood (or The Strawberry book as we called it)
I'm extremely fond of the Strawberry book. I don't think I'll ever not love it. It's such a fun story that slyly places the reader as a character in the story. It's just a little bit sneaky.
And, the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. I would pay real money for a framed copy of the disguise scene. It makes me laugh to this day.
[+] [-] fuzzylightbulb|4 years ago|reply
We have pretty much every Sandra Boynton book. They are fantastic. Plus a good number of them are songs and she has collaborated with tons of musicians to make them very special. Perfect Piggies [1] is a total ear worm and here is a song done by the Bacon Brothers [2].
While we do ready The Going to Bed Book every.single.night, I think my favorite is Snuggle Puppy - A Little Love Song [3]. I read it a little different than how that video is, but its really sweet and pure.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6x0aUhUJDBE [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pm9_M-94XY [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G6cJTmrYZ8
[+] [-] drummojg|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JoeAltmaier|4 years ago|reply
When I read to my pre-literate children, I'd say the title and they would have to repeat it after me. Then I'd say the author's name, again they'd have to repeat it back. Then I'd read the rest of the book.
They wondered why they had to do that, and sometimes they even resisted. Then I'd play a game of not being able to go on until they said it.
Anyway, as they grew they knew the authors of all their favorite books. To this day (in their 30's) they know the names.
[+] [-] ryantgtg|4 years ago|reply
Re: Goodnight Moon, I was most taken by the colors. That orangy-red is so vibrant (at least in the old 1970s copy I have).
[+] [-] totoglazer|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] giantg2|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pfdietz|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dmichulke|4 years ago|reply
https://goodnightdune.com/
[+] [-] mensetmanusman|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] paleotrope|4 years ago|reply
[+] [-] legitster|4 years ago|reply
I was never read Goodnight Moon as a child, so I have no sense of nostalgia for the book. And despite the overwhelming pressure society places on me reading it to my toddler, neither of us have any meaningful connection to the book.
In contrast, you had A.A. Milne, Dr. Suess, and Dorothy Kunhardt all publishing some amazing (and radical!) children's books over decade earlier!
[+] [-] Tokhubi|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] Tokhubi|4 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] iambateman|4 years ago|reply
But “Goodnight Moon” is overrated.
[+] [-] verisimi|4 years ago|reply
A couple of quick bits from her wiki: "Brown was born in Brooklyn, New York, the middle child of three of Maude Margaret (Johnson) and Robert Bruce Brown.[1][3] She was the granddaughter of politician Benjamin Gratz Brown. Her parents had an unhappy marriage. She was initially raised in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood, and attended Chateau Brilliantmont boarding school in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1923,[4][5] while her parents were living in India and Canterbury, Connecticut. In 1925, she attended The Kew-Forest School.[6] She began attending Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, in 1926, where she did well in athletics. After graduation in 1928, Brown went on to Hollins College in Roanoke, Virginia."
- granddaughter of politician, boarding school in Switzerland
"Brown was an avid, lifelong beagler and was noted for her ability to keep pace, on foot, with the hounds.[7]"
- foxhunter
"While at Hollins she was briefly engaged.[12] She dated, for some time, an unknown "good, quiet man from Virginia,"[13] had a long-running affair with William Gaston,[14][15] and had a summer romance with Preston Schoyer.[16] In the summer of 1940, Brown began a long-term relationship with Blanche Oelrichs (nom de plume Michael Strange), poet/playwright, actress, and the former wife of John Barrymore. The relationship, which began as a mentoring one, eventually became romantic and included co-habiting at 10 Gracie Square in Manhattan beginning in 1943.[17] As a studio, they used Cobble Court, a wooden house later moved to Charles Street. Oelrichs, who was 20 years Brown's senior, died in 1950."
- relationships with men and women. Is this 'radical'? Even in 1920?
"In 1952, Brown met James Stillman 'Pebble' Rockefeller Jr. at a party, and they became engaged."
--
The point is that many people are capable of creating wonderful literature, being acclaimed as radical, etc. Its not that hard when you granddad was governor of Missouri and a potential VP, you went to school in Switzerland, and you are engaged to a Rockefeller.
[+] [-] mistrial9|4 years ago|reply
maybe spelling is important to literature, too?