Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Over the Moon (1947, 1942, 1949)

Over the Moon: Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, and My World. Margaret Wise Brown. Illustrations by Clement Hurd. 1947, 1942, 1949, 2006. HarperCollins. 108 pages.

 Goodnight Moon:
In the great green room there was a telephone and a red balloon and a picture of--
Can you complete the sentence?! Goodnight Moon was originally published in 1947 and it's been pleasing parents and children ever since. Goodnight Moon makes a great read aloud because of its rhythm and rhyme. Do you have a favorite line or two? Mine is "Goodnight comb and goodnight brush...goodnight nobody goodnight mush...and goodnight to the old lady whispering hush".

The Runaway Bunny
Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away. So he said to his mother, "I am running away." "If you run away," said his mother, "I will run after you. For you are my little bunny."
The Runaway Bunny (1942) is an imaginative story about unconditional love. A little boy wants to run away from his mom, the mom wants to show that no matter what she'll be there for her bunny.  For example, "If you become a rock on the mountain high above me," said his mother, "I will be a mountain climber, and I will climb to where you are" and "If you become a bird and fly away from me," said his mother, "I will be a tree that you come home to." It's a lovely book, one that is easy to recommend.

My World
My book. Mother's book. In my book I only look.
The fire burns. The pages turn.
Mother's chair.
My chair.
A low chair.
A high chair.
But certainly my chair.

My World (1949) is a companion picture book to Goodnight Moon. It certainly rhymes. And some of the rhythms are quite enjoyable. But the story is lacking a little. For example, "My dog. Daddy's dog. Daddy's dog once caught a frog. My spoon. Daddy's spoon. The moon belongs to the man in the moon." The book does focus on a child's world: the day-to-day activities and objects of familiarity.


© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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