There are other books, she argues, that should sit beside it within a child’s library. Still, the popularity of Goodnight Moon close to a century after it was published gives Jiménez pause.

“It’s soothing and still imaginative,” says Cordner, who studies children’s literature and has written one of her own: Who’s Hiding in This Book? Meet Ten Authors (Pierce Press, 2019). To this day, she says, the book is such a popular gift at baby showers and early birthdays because “it does this one deep-dive for kids before bedtime and it does do that so well. (This one is my favorite page.)Īlthough it’s written for children, part of what makes Goodnight Moon so enduring is its appeal to parents, says Sheila Cordner (GRS’13), a College of General Studies senior lecturer. One page is blank save for the words, “Goodnight nobody.” Opposite it, another page reads, “Goodnight mush” under a bowl of oatmeal. An older rabbit, knitting in a rocking chair, is described only as a “quiet old lady,” who remains in the background except to whisper, “Hush.” Goodnight Moon takes its readers through the bedtime routine of its protagonist, a young rabbit, who says goodnight to the things in its room. “The audience isn’t the adult reading it, it’s literally the child as listener or reader, which is a lot different than a lot of other books,” she says. She wrote for them, rather than about them. Rather than retell classic fables that hammered home lessons on morality, Brown focused on the experience of children themselves. Published in 1947, Goodnight Moon was a radical departure from other children’s books at the time, says Jiménez, who teaches courses on children’s literature. It is very unique in the sense that it wasn’t a plot-and-character piece of literature it was never meant to be that.” “It’s got that repetition, it has that quietude of language that kids thirst for.

Jiménez, a Wheelock College of Education & Human Development senior lecturer and associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion. “The book is designed to lull children to sleep,” says Laura M. It’s sold more than 40 million copies in the last seven decades. The bedtime book is still wildly popular. Goodnight Moon did its job-for millions of parents and children. If anything, it’s a testament to its power. This is not a knock on Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd’s book, celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Not because it’s been 30-some-odd years since I’ve read the children’s book (although that doesn’t help), but because almost every time my parents read it to me before bed, I fell asleep before they finished.

Goodnight moon brown