Title: Goodnight Moon
Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Pictures By: Clement Hurd
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0064430170
The story of Goodnight Moon is very simple. It is in essence the bedtime story of all bedtime stories. It is the perfect bedtime story because it is such as easy read for parents but is also very easy to understand for young children. The premise for the story is a young rabbit going to sleep. However, before he can go to bed he has to say goodnight to everything in his great green room. The rabbit says goodnight to each individual object and creature in his room including the kittens, the mouse and the little old lady whispering hush. In reading this story as an adult, I have come to recognize the game that rabbit is playing in prolonging the time before he goes to sleep. Perhaps this was not Margaret Wise Brown's intention, but I see this now as a wink and nudge to anyone who has tried to put a child to bed. One feature of this story that creates the perfect bedtime story is that the lines of the story are short and to the point, they are as simple as the story itself, no fancy wording or unfamiliar words and perhaps that is where the lulling melody of the story is born.
Goodnight Moon is considered a picture book because the pictures are the emphasis of the story, it would seem quite silly for these simple sentences to be strung together without the vivid pictures. I also think that Goodnight Moon can be categorized as a pattern book because of the repetition of the word goodnight, with clues as to what rabbit is saying goodnight to. It can also be categorized as a circular story because first Margaret Wise Brown names all of the things in the room and then rabbit loops back around and says goodnight to them. This book is even interactive because the child can point to each of the items that is mentioned throughout the story. I remember this being one of the first books that I could read. Looking back I may have simply memorized the story. As I turned the pages as I read this book this evening I found myself knowing what the sentence on the next page was, it was as if memories of my memorization at four came flooding back. It is quite an incredible feat for a book to capture an audience so much so that twenty years later the memorized lines came back without missing a beat.
The illustrations in Goodnight Moon are at times more important than the lines of the story. The colors are vibrant but fade as the story progresses. The green gets darker as the night creeps in through the window in the great room, which is one of the most mood provoking techniques for illustrations that I have ever seen, by the end of the story everyone is yawning! Even though there are so many things going on in the room -- bright colors, patterns, jumping kittens, rocking old ladies, a floating red balloon, however, it never once feels overwhelming. One of the ways in which this is accomplished is the subtle black and white drawings that are sprinkled throughout the story, they offer refuge from the vibrancy and offer a calm visual as the child tries to go to sleep. Regardless of how mismatched the room may seem when dissected, it all seems to fit together flawlessly in Clement Hurd's illustrations. I think that the attention to detail in this story is what brings it to life. One detail that I followed as a child was that the mouse is visible in each of the colored pictures of the great green room, I remember searching for the small mouse next to the mittens, in front of the fireplace and even next to the bowl full of mush.
In the classroom I believe that this book should be used with young children, perhaps in preparation for a rest period. I think reading this book aloud in a small group may be the most conducive to getting the most out of the book. I would ask students to point out the various objects and creatures that rabbit is saying goodnight to and I may even ask students to find the mouse in each of the colored pictures. I think that this book obviously lends itself to a quiet activity, perhaps if a child is having trouble adapting to the classroom and having separation anxiety this could be a comfort to them.
To me, Goodnight Moon became a very comforting story. When I moved from New York to Florida my Dad used the story to show that even though we had moved, my world was not that different. My father would go around the room in the same way that they did in the story and we would say goodnight to all the same things that we had said goodnight to in New York. That is perhaps one of the reasons that this story has such significant meaning to me. Reading is such an important part of a child's life, and I believe that beginning with this story and following through the thousands of stories that came after, I became a lover of books through quality children's literature. When searching for the perfect Caldecott Winner to review for my last blog I remembered being a child and feeling as though all books were Caldecott Award winning books. I realize now that not all books are, however, the great majority of the books that my father chose to read to me, were in fact award-winning books. His yearning for quality literature for me turned into a love of quality literature for myself.
Pictures By: Clement Hurd
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0064430170
The story of Goodnight Moon is very simple. It is in essence the bedtime story of all bedtime stories. It is the perfect bedtime story because it is such as easy read for parents but is also very easy to understand for young children. The premise for the story is a young rabbit going to sleep. However, before he can go to bed he has to say goodnight to everything in his great green room. The rabbit says goodnight to each individual object and creature in his room including the kittens, the mouse and the little old lady whispering hush. In reading this story as an adult, I have come to recognize the game that rabbit is playing in prolonging the time before he goes to sleep. Perhaps this was not Margaret Wise Brown's intention, but I see this now as a wink and nudge to anyone who has tried to put a child to bed. One feature of this story that creates the perfect bedtime story is that the lines of the story are short and to the point, they are as simple as the story itself, no fancy wording or unfamiliar words and perhaps that is where the lulling melody of the story is born.
Goodnight Moon is considered a picture book because the pictures are the emphasis of the story, it would seem quite silly for these simple sentences to be strung together without the vivid pictures. I also think that Goodnight Moon can be categorized as a pattern book because of the repetition of the word goodnight, with clues as to what rabbit is saying goodnight to. It can also be categorized as a circular story because first Margaret Wise Brown names all of the things in the room and then rabbit loops back around and says goodnight to them. This book is even interactive because the child can point to each of the items that is mentioned throughout the story. I remember this being one of the first books that I could read. Looking back I may have simply memorized the story. As I turned the pages as I read this book this evening I found myself knowing what the sentence on the next page was, it was as if memories of my memorization at four came flooding back. It is quite an incredible feat for a book to capture an audience so much so that twenty years later the memorized lines came back without missing a beat.
The illustrations in Goodnight Moon are at times more important than the lines of the story. The colors are vibrant but fade as the story progresses. The green gets darker as the night creeps in through the window in the great room, which is one of the most mood provoking techniques for illustrations that I have ever seen, by the end of the story everyone is yawning! Even though there are so many things going on in the room -- bright colors, patterns, jumping kittens, rocking old ladies, a floating red balloon, however, it never once feels overwhelming. One of the ways in which this is accomplished is the subtle black and white drawings that are sprinkled throughout the story, they offer refuge from the vibrancy and offer a calm visual as the child tries to go to sleep. Regardless of how mismatched the room may seem when dissected, it all seems to fit together flawlessly in Clement Hurd's illustrations. I think that the attention to detail in this story is what brings it to life. One detail that I followed as a child was that the mouse is visible in each of the colored pictures of the great green room, I remember searching for the small mouse next to the mittens, in front of the fireplace and even next to the bowl full of mush.
In the classroom I believe that this book should be used with young children, perhaps in preparation for a rest period. I think reading this book aloud in a small group may be the most conducive to getting the most out of the book. I would ask students to point out the various objects and creatures that rabbit is saying goodnight to and I may even ask students to find the mouse in each of the colored pictures. I think that this book obviously lends itself to a quiet activity, perhaps if a child is having trouble adapting to the classroom and having separation anxiety this could be a comfort to them.
To me, Goodnight Moon became a very comforting story. When I moved from New York to Florida my Dad used the story to show that even though we had moved, my world was not that different. My father would go around the room in the same way that they did in the story and we would say goodnight to all the same things that we had said goodnight to in New York. That is perhaps one of the reasons that this story has such significant meaning to me. Reading is such an important part of a child's life, and I believe that beginning with this story and following through the thousands of stories that came after, I became a lover of books through quality children's literature. When searching for the perfect Caldecott Winner to review for my last blog I remembered being a child and feeling as though all books were Caldecott Award winning books. I realize now that not all books are, however, the great majority of the books that my father chose to read to me, were in fact award-winning books. His yearning for quality literature for me turned into a love of quality literature for myself.
Megan,
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful story because it does work with children in a way to calm their anxieties about bedtime or rest time. You seem like you are so enthusiastic about this book. I really enjoyed reading your excitement! I think this was well written without a doubt because you hit upon many things such as your emotion, the type of picture book it is, the illustrations alone and the feeling you got when it was read to you when you were a child
I too can relate to this book as a teacher because I have a rest time period in my class. Some children do stall before they go down to sleep, but I make them do what they need to do, keeping in mind a limit to how long they actually need before they lay on their mats. Of course I don't allow more than 5 minutes or a little less to say good night, however I let them get it out for a short time whatever anxieties they may have before they lay down.
I like the fact that you can choose a book you liked as a child that made an impact on you so much so that you can use it in this class. I hope to do that too in this class one day as well!