Remarkably, some of the artwork was a last-minute decision as the book was coming together. Then, of course, there is the big moon hanging in the large window that gives the story its name. The colorful drawings of the bunny in a “great green room” saying goodnight to all its friends and objects grabs the attention of young kids. The Story Is Accompanied by Exciting Artworkīecause the target audience of children's books can't always read, artwork can be just as important as the text. She organized “free association” sessions with children in the kindergarten where she researched, when she would ask them things like, “What is the quietest and quickest thing you can think of?” One of the answers she received was “a mouse sleeping.” Goodnight Moon's repetitive wordplay exemplifies Brown's rejection of traditional narrative structure. This writing device, which may seem off-putting to older readers, is incredibly stimulating for young children because it helps them become familiar with new vocabulary.īrown used other techniques to help write her stories from the perspective of a child. This process helped with the understanding of how children used language and what they liked best about a story. Brown became convinced that young children were especially fascinated by a story's words and actions, rather than the narrative structure that adult readers expect to find in a book.

One of the techniques that helped Brown and her colleagues come to this conclusion was writing down the stories that kids told them. Rather, children were fascinated by the rhythm and word patterns of speech, something which Brown tried to integrate into her stories. They came to the conclusion that children's initial attraction to language was not primarily for purposes of communication. She once said that it was necessary not to talk down to children, “yet speaking to them in their own language,” as a profile in Smithsonian Magazine put it.īrown and her colleagues at the Bank Street College (then known as the Bureau of Educational Experiments) in New York worked with small children during the 1930s. Rather than writing children's books with an adult audience in mind, Brown sought to use language and narrative structures that appealed to kids. Goodnight Moon's success over the past 75 years appears to have proven Brown correct on both counts.īrown Focused on How Children Use Language One of its core beliefs was that young children were still discovering the world around them and could be fascinated by stories that dealt with simple, daily tasks, like saying goodnight before going to bed.īrown also maintained that children first had to fully appreciate the daily reality around them before they could enjoy the type of fantasy storytelling that characterizes fairy tales. This approach was expounded in a book written by Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Brown's mentor, and advocated in a journal published by the Bank Street College. She subscribed to an approach to writing known as “here-and-now” storytelling. The stories typically had a moral message and contained unusual happenings.īrown believed that kids would respond better to stories set in their everyday lives.

These stories, many of them written in the 19th century, often focused on faraway lands and unusual creatures. When she began her writing career in the 1930s, children's literature was dominated by fairy tales. Margaret Wise Brown, the author of Goodnight Moon, was a strong advocate of a new type of children's book.

Goodnight Moon Was a New Type of Children's Book But what is it precisely about this colorfully illustrated book that attracts generation after generation to its pages? Here are several factors that help explain the story's longevity. Its simplicity, use of repetitive wordplay, and ability to lull little ones off to sleep have won it praise from parents and literary critics alike. Ince its release in 1947, Goodnight Moon has remained a family favorite bedtime story.

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