Brown, Margaret Wise

Goodnight Moon

Beloved children's book by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd

Perhaps the perfect children's bedtime book, Goodnight Moon is a short poem of goodnight wishes from a young rabbit preparing for--or attempting to postpone--his own slumber. He says goodnight to every object in sight and within earshot, including the "quiet old lady whispering hush." Clement Hurd's illustrations are simple and effective, alternating between small ink drawings and wide, brightly colored views of the little rabbit's room.

Finding all of the items mentioned throughout the book within the pictures is a good bedtime activity--a reappearing little mouse is particularly pesky. By the end of the little rabbit's goodnight poem, the story has quieted to a whisper, and the drawings have darkened with nightfall. As you turn the last page, you can expect a sleepy smile and at least a yawn or two. (Picture book)

The Important Book

"The important thing about rain is/ that it is wet./ It falls out of the sky,/ and it sounds like rain,/ and makes things shiny,/ and it does not taste like anything,/ and is the color of air./ But the important thing about rain is that it is wet."

Goodnight Moon creator Margaret Wise Brown's The Important Book is a deceptively simple exercise--taking familiar things like an apple, spoon, or shoe, and finding the most basic association with those things. The most important thing about an apple? It is round. A spoon? You eat with it. A shoe? You put your foot in it. But why, according to Brown, is the most important thing about grass "that it is green," while the most important thing about an apple is "that it is round"? Why is "that it is white" the most important thing about snow and a daisy? Whether or not you'd distill these things in the same way that the author does, Brown makes us think about the essence of everyday entities in new ways. The illustrations, by Caldecott Medal winner Leonard Weisgard (The Little Island), perform the same function--capturing the spoonness of spoons, the roundness of an apple, the motion of wind.

Happily, Brown went on to create the companion Another Important Book, about the importance of being one, two, three, four, five, and six years old--published for the first time in 1999 with fabulous artwork by Caldecott Honor artist Chris Raschka (Yo! Yes?). Both of Brown's "important books" will endure the test of time as fresh, thought-provoking ways to examine the world around us. (Click to see a sample spread. Text copyright renewed 1977 by Roberta Brown Rauch. Illustrations copyright renewed 1977 by Leonard Weisgard. Permission from HarperCollins Publishers.) (Preschool and older) --Karin Snelson

The important thing about The Important Book -- is that you let your child tell you what is important about the sun and the moon and the wind and the rain and a bug and a bee and a chair and a table and a pencil and a bear and a rainbow and a cat (if he wants to). For the important thing about The Important Book is that the book goes on long after it is closed.What is most important about many familiar things -- like rain and wind, apples and daisies -- is suggested in rhythmic words and vivid pictures. 'A perfect book . . . the text establishes a word game which tiny children will accept with glee.' -- K.

Goodnight Moon (Spanish edition): Buenas noches, Luna

En una gran habitación verde, arropado en su cama, está un conejito.
-- Buenas noches, habitación.
-- Buenas noches, Luna -- dice el conejito.

Y así sucesivamente, le da las buenas noches a todas las cosas que reconoce en su cuarto: al cuadro de los tres ositos sentaditos en sus sillas, a los relojes y a los calcetines, a los gatitos juguetones y a los lindos mitones.

En este cuento clásico de la literatura infantil, adorado por generaciones de niños, la poesía que encierra su texto y la ternura de sus bellas ilustraciones con-vierten a éste en un libro ideal para culminar el día.

Goodnight Moon Board Book & Bunny

Millions of children have been lulled to sleep by this classic bedtime tale. Now paired with a cuddly plush bunny, it is the perfect way to say "goodnight."

The Runaway Bunny

This profoundly comforting story of a bunny's imaginary game of hide-and-seek and the lovingly steadfast mother who finds him every time, has pictures redrawn by Clement Hurd for this new edition book. Author: Margaret Wise Brown Illustrator: Clement Hurd Publisher: Harper Collins

Since its publication in 1942, The Runaway Bunny has never been out of print. Generations of sleepy children and grateful parents have loved the classics of Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd, including Goodnight Moon. The Runaway Bunny begins with a young bunny who decides to run away: "'If you run away,' said his mother, 'I will run after you. For you are my little bunny.'" And so begins a delightful, imaginary game of chase. No matter how many forms the little bunny takes--a fish in a stream, a crocus in a hidden garden, a rock on a mountain--his steadfast, adoring, protective mother finds a way of retrieving him. The soothing rhythm of the bunny banter--along with the surreal, dream-like pictures--never fail to infuse young readers with a complete sense of security and peace. For any small child who has toyed with the idea of running away or testing the strength of Mom's love, this old favorite will comfort and reassure. (Baby to preschool)

Big Red Barn Board Book (rpkg)

By the big red barn
In the great green field,
There was a pink pig
Who was learning to squeal.

There were horses and sheep and goats and geese--and a jaunty old scarecrow leaning on his hoe. And they all lived together by the big red barn. In joyous and exuberant

Pictures, Felicia Bond lovingly evokes Margaret Wise Brown's simple, rhythmic text about the cycle of a day on a farm, where a family of animals peacefully plays and sleeps.

In the barnyard there are roosters and cows, horses and goats, and a pink piglet who is learning to squeal. Margaret Wise Brown's lulling story about a day in the life of a barnyard is now available as a sturdy board book. Felicia Bond's atmospheric illustrations add to the tranquil simplicity of this story.

I Like Bugs (Step-Into-Reading, Step 1)

Black Bugs. Green Bugs. Fat Bugs. Buggy Bugs., I like Bugs!, , A rhyming ode to insects, penned by none other then Margaret Wise Brown. This poem was originally published in The Friendly Book., , Mile 1 books entice brand-new readers with rhyme, rhythm, and repetition. The type is big, the words are easy, and the art is bright and bold.

The Little Scarecrow Boy

The Little Scarecrow Boy is the lightest and brightest picture book from one of the most renowned children's writers ever: Margaret Wise Brown, author of Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Caldecott winner David Diaz's illustrations burst with sunshine, and Brown's words reveal the quiet glory of a boy on the brink of growing up, full of curiosity and life.

Ages 3 – 7

Another Important Book

The companion title to Goodnight Moon creator Margaret Wise Brown's 1949 classic, The Important Book, was published for the first time in 1999, with wonderful illustrations by Caldecott Honor recipient Chris Raschka of Yo! Yes? "Yo, yes!" we say. Just as Brown's first volume distills the essence of everyday entities, this splendid rhyming picture book zeroes in on the most important things about being one, two, three, four, five, and six years old.

The important thing about being Four/ is that you are bigger than you were before..../ You can blink and think/ as quick as a wink./ You can open your eyes/ to a world of surprise.

Children love the process of reaching each new year's landmark, and this whimsical equivalent of a wall-notch height chart will thoroughly delight them. It is difficult to imagine the book without Raschka's wriggling, singing, flinging babies, toddlers, and kids of all colors, exquisitely crafted with vivacious brushstrokes and vibrant watercolors. He has also cleverly woven numbers into his illustrations--a five-pointed star behind the five-year-old, a pinwheel of six circles behind the six-year-old. The splashy modern artwork rejuvenates Brown's half-a-century-old rhymes, plants them squarely in 1999, and guarantees a future classic. (Click to see a sample spread. Text copyright 1999 by Roberta Brown Rauch. Illustrations copyright 1999 by Chris Raschka. Permission of Joanna Cotler Books, HarperCollins Publishers.) (Baby to age 6) --Karin Snelson

Look inside and discover all the important things about being Six, Five, Four, Three, One, Two, and YOU, in this lively picture book by Margaret Wise Brown, the beloved author of Goodnight Moon, with illustrations by Caldecott Honor artist Chris Raschka.

Bonsoir Lune / Goodnight Moon