There are so many books out there that I want to read, that I typically don’t reread books unless they’re my absolute favorites. Of course, there are about 100 books that I consider my absolute favorites, and I add to that list weekly.
But in the last week, I’ve read a certain book at least 100 times. I can’t get enough. Meaning, my son Max can’t get enough. Every night before going to bed, Max wants to read Goodnight Moon several dozen times, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd.
I think I know why: the book sounds like going to sleep. I’m not sure how else to say it. By the time I read it, my voice gets quieter and quieter, without me realizing it. I have no idea if Brown had this intention, but my belief is that GoodNight Moon was written as much for wiggly toddlers as for adults who are winding down for the night.
The “story” is simple. There is a room with several things in it, including:
- A bowl of mush
- three bears sitting in chairs
- An old lady
- A red balloon
And you go through and say goodnight to all of them. The pacing, the ordering of the words, and the tenderness of the artwork really have to be experienced to be appreciated. It captivates Max and it calms me down.
There are a lot of books out there that set out to create a mood and fail miserably, laughably, or both. I didn’t need to have a son to have an excuse for revisiting children’s favorites, but it does make sure that I do it.
Goodnight Moon does mood better than any book I can think of. And if you get the board book, you can chew on it and it will last a long time anyways.
Josh
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I think this post needs a new category: “Essential Truths.” It says something that my youngest is 15 and I not only still know where all the copies are (including the chewn one), but can recite the text without hesitation. Few things in life are perfect, thanks for cherishing this one.
I’ll think it over:)
I had never heard of this book until I was in my thirties, but one of my favorite books growing up was also by Margaret Wise Brown – “Nibble, Nibble: Poems for Young Children”.
(If you go looking for it, make sure you get the from 1959 with illustrations by Leonard Weisgard – the version currently on Amazon looks like it only has 5 of the original 25 poems and “more modern” illustrations.)
Some bugs pinch
And some bugs creep
Some bugs buzz themselves to sleep
Buzz Buzz Buzz Buzz
This is the song of the bugs.
I don’t even know the tune and I think Song of the bugs is already stuck in my head.
I LOVE “Goodnight Moon.” In fact, this is a line I often say to my friend every time she signs off of IM to go read to her son:
“Gotta go, Jude wants a story.”
“Awww, well, Goodnight Moon!”
Good stuff.
I love it!
Goodnight Moon is a great bedtime read. Very soothing. Max has good taste!
He doesn’t get it from Janette, that’s for sure!
Love this book. Makes me want to dig it out of storage again and read it. (My kids are beyond the Goodnight Moon obsession.)
It’s wonderful stuff. We’ve got at least two copies sitting around. One for reading, one for chewing.
Josh!
This was one of my favorite books growing up as well. I think I said good night to just about everything in my room after that. This is the kind of book that every kids’ author dreams of writing.
…the only thing it needs is a kettlebell for the kid to say goodnight to.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
You’re right. I’m going to paint one in. Max likes to make kettlebells out of play-doh.
funny how life works. This post got me thinking about other books that I love from my childhood and as I was walking thru the bookstore this afternoon I came across some of my favorites…the “Mr. Men” books. I used to love reading about Mr. Happy, Little Miss Bossy, and all of the other Mr. Men characters. I stopped, read through a couple of them, enjoyed some memories, and picked up a few to share with my kids. Good times!
I loved those books. I think it was Mr. Messy, but my favorite was a guy who was just a big scribble.
I have also read this book dozens of times to Max, and what strikes me is how he sees the book differently as the weeks go by. His focus was originally on the Moon, then on clocks, then the balloon, and now it’s the bowl full of “mus”.
There’s nothing quite as rewarding as reading to a child.
Nothing? What about frying tilapia for your husband?
Do you have Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny? If you look closely in Goodnight, Moon, one of the pictures on the wall is taken directly from The Runaway Bunny. It’s so exciting when little ones discover a detail like that.
I’m going to grab it at the library today.
We would always make a game of finding the tiny mouse and saying, “squeeeek” when he was discovered. In the beginning, I’d do ‘hot and cold’ to tell them when they were close to the mouse.
It didn’t take long for them to memorize the mouse’s location, but the squeeeeking was still a blast, although not particularly conducive to sleep.
LOVE that book.
Check out “The Runaway Bunny” and see if you can get through it without crying.
Will do. I’ve read The Runaway Bunny before, but not since Max was born.
I had a lot of favorites when my son was younger. I don’t know that we ever read Goodnight Moon… I really wish we had. I’ll check it out for myself.
You won’t regret it.
A new book for you and Max is The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood. It tells about all different kinds of quiet and has gorgeous illustrations. It just came out this spring.
On my way to look it up now! thanks.
Just getting back to my blog reading and I happened upon this one. We actually have TWO copies of Goodnight Moon because our daughter chewed on the back cover (in the middle somehow! Talented child…) and we had to replace it. I had it memorized for awhile and, with our next baby due in September, I believe it’ll come back to me.
You know, I never read that book until a co-worker gave it to me as a giggle. She used to pass by my desk when I was working late and tell me it was past my bedtime. I finally told her I wanted a story (funny since she was much younger). One day, she brought me a copy of Goodnight Moon. I still have it and it makes me smile just thinking about it.
My boys loved that book when they were younger. I still have our battered copy. I love it as well.
Oh, Josh. We’re in the same phase. My 2 1/2 year old loves that book too. Have you read “The Escape of Marvin the Ape”? It’s our favorite one, right now.
http://www.amazon.com/Escape-Marvin-Ape-Caralyn-Buehner/dp/0803711239
I’m going to take a look today. I’m at the library.
The book is not that simple. It is the second book in Margaret Wise Brown’s Runaway Bunny trilogy. Together, the three books have an Oedipal structure and some surprisingly explicit images and symbols. The Runaway Bunny explores the child’s fear of the omnipotent mother. Goodnight Moon explores the child’s efforts to define his place in a space dominated by his mother. In My World the father appears and as the bunny boy compares himself with his father, and the mother rabbit fades into the shadows, the bunny boy concedes that the moon belongs to the man in the moon.
People who want to know more should read Have a Carrot: Oedipal Theory and Symbolism in Margaret Wise Brown’s Runaway Bunny Trilogy, Look Again Press (2010) http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/21324
It’s that simple for me. I’ll enjoy it exactly how I want, but I will take a look at the link. No piece of academic criticism has ever made anything more enjoyable for me, and I’ve read plenty. It normally has the opposite effect.
Too funny Josh, and too true. Academics tend to point out things many of us would rather ignore. Books can offer a highly subjective experience for readers who endow them with meaning that comes from their own lives no matter what the words actually say. What I love about Brown’s books is that they can be understood on multiple levels.
Being Swedish, I didn’t know this children’s story but got familiar with it thru Richard Price’s novel Clockers and then later the paraphrased scene in the episode he wrote for The Wire. So now I know its origins!
http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2008/02/the_wire_took_goodnight_moon.html
Thanks Johan. I’m a big Richard Price and The Wire fan.