Board Books
Birth to Age 2
Goodnight Moon
Written by Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952)
Illustrated by Clement Hurd (1908–1988)
Published in 1947 by Harper & Row
Birth to age 2 32 pages
Upon awakening early one morning in 1945, Margaret Wise
Brown wrote down the entire text of Goodnight Moon in almost
final form, and called it "Goodnight Room." That morning
Brown, or "Brownie" as she was known, telephoned her editor, the
legendary Ursula Nordstrom, to read her the text, which Nordstrom
accepted immediately for publication. In those days, editorial
taste rather than publishing committees determined the fate of
geniuses.
Margaret Wise Brown, who would write more than a hundred
books for children in her short career, claimed that she dreamt her
stories, and Goodnight Moon appears to be a case in point. However,
Brown"s creative dreaming followed years of intense training.
A student at Bank Street College"s School of Education, Brown began
to explore writing books that incorporated the revolutionary
ideas of Lucy Sprague Mitchell, the visionary founder of Bank
Street. Both Brown and Mitchell believed that books should expose
young children to the "here and now" world of their own home surroundings.
Children need to hear about and see all the things that
they feel comfortable with in their own world. So in Goodnight
Moon, the mother and child say good night to all the familiar objects
around them. Everything present in the great green room is
part of a child"s real world and reflects Brown"s "here and now" philosophy.
After the telephone call, Nordstrom began searching for an
appropriate artist for the text, but Brown insisted she wanted no
one other than Clement Hurd. Goodnight Moon demonstrates how
great books are made, and almost unmade, by seconds and inches.
For his original sketches for the book, Hurd drew his protagonists
as a human grandmother and a young boy. This version went
through several proof stages, but eventually Margaret Wise Brown
and Ursula Nordstrom insisted that the characters be bunnies.
Hurd relented; as the illustrator of The Runaway Bunny (also by
Brown), he could draw rabbits like an angel. In fact, those close to
him often said he looked like a rabbit. Hence, the resulting book,
rather than being tied to a human environment, achieved an otherworldly,
timeless dimension.
Hurd also accepted Brown"s and Nordstrom"s criticism of the
cow in his original picture. He altered it anatomically so that no
one would object to the udders. And on Nordstrom"s suggestion,
he replaced a map with a bookcase because she wanted to promote
the idea of children having books in their rooms. However, Hurd
worked out many innovative concepts that remained in the final
art. Half-page black-and-white illustrations display all the objects
in the room; but Hurd used only one piece of color art for the main
scene of the book. That art was simply darkened, by degrees, by the
printer. As the story moves forward — "Goodnight bears / Goodnight
chairs / . . . Goodnight mush / And goodnight to the old lady
whispering "hush"" — the child and parent keep going back to exactly
the same room, but each time a little more light has been removed.
Goodnight Moon met immediately with the kind of criticism that
all too frequently welcomes our great books. A Harper sales representative
wrote, "Frankly I"m having a tough time with [Goodnight
Moon]. . . . As soon as [most buyers] see the size of it for $2.00 they
throw it at me. They like the color, story, and idea, but will not
touch it at that price. . . . I don"t think we"ll even sniff the quota. At
$1.00 it would really move." But the book was not reduced to
$1.00, and it did not really move for another twenty years or so.
Goodnight Moon remained a quiet book; not until the 1970s did it
gain a significant audience.
Although some critics dismissed the book as overly sentimental
when it appeared, future generations have grown to appreciate the
crisp language, clear geometric forms, and bright, bold colors.
Children as young as eight months can appreciate the appearance
of familiar objects in the art — such as the moon, the fire,
and the mouse. A timeless book, almost like a child"s evening
prayers, Goodnight Moon has lulled millions of children around the
world to sleep.
Mr.Gumpy"s Outing
..........................................................................
By John Burningham (b. 1936)
Published in 1971 by Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
Birth to age 2 32 pages
After graduating from Central School of Arts and Crafts in
London, John Burningham began searching for work as an
artist. Because no one would hire him, he tried developing a children"s
book. Fortunately for both Burningham and for children,
that first book, Borka: The Adventures of a Goose with No Feathers,
won Britain"s prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal, given to the best
picture book of the year.
Seven years later, Burningham produced another book that won
the Greenaway Medal. In Mr. Gumpy"s Outing, the hero, who lives
on a river, first appears wearing a hat and huge boots. Mr. Gumpy
travels along in a boat, picking up animals and children who promise
to make no trouble. But, of course, they cannot avoid breaking
their promises, and the whole crew ends up in the river before going
to a sumptuous high tea.
Wonderful to read aloud, the book can be, and often is, acted out
by a group of children. The predictability of the story sequence —
""Will you take me with you?" said the dog. "Yes," said Mr. Gumpy.
"But don"t tease the cat." / "May I come please, Mr. Gumpy?" said
the pig. "Very well, but don"t muck about."" — encourages children
to join in; it also gives them confidence as they begin to read
for themselves. Burningham deftly balances brown pen sketches,
quite free and expressive, with brilliant full-color art. He deliberately
gives the drawings an unfinished look — so the child can
have maximum freedom to imagine events.
Although Burningham had an opportunity to extend Mr.
Gumpy"s adventures further, which he did in Mr. Gumpy"s Motor
Car, he deliberately avoided creating a series. Fond of his characters,
he is still more interested in a new project than in repeating
something he knows.
John Burningham believes that really great children"s books
"contain as much for adults as for children." Certainly, parents and
teachers have enjoyed this watery outing every bit as much as children.
And at the end, when Mr. Gumpy says, "Come for a ride another
day," the child and adult reader will probably do so — many,
many times. Mr. Gumpy"s Outing reminds us that readers of all
ages can be charmed by simple things.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
..........................................................................
By Eric Carle (b. 1929)
Published in 1969 by World Publishing Company
Birth to age 2 24 pages
A young graphic designer, Eric Carle had been tinkering with
the germ of an idea for a book called A Week with Willi Worm.
He wanted to use a unique book design, with holes cut into the
pages, to show the progress of a very hungry worm working his
way through all kinds of foods until it grows fat. But his editor Ann
Beneduce was less than enthusiastic about a green worm as a protagonist
and believed that Carle should use a more sympathetic
character. When she suggested a caterpillar, Carle answered simply,
"Butterfly." With these new elements, Eric Carle completed
The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a book that has become popular all
over the world.
In the story a winsome caterpillar eats a variety of foods until he
finally turns into a butterfly. While showing a simple story of transformation,
the book presents very young children with such concepts
as counting, days of the week, and the life cycle of a butterfly,
in bold, graphic art.
Carle made his debut as a children"s book illustrator in a school
textbook story, written by Bill Martin, called Brown Bear, Brown
Bear, What Do You See? Later reissued for bookstores, the title has
enchanted millions of children with its simple rhythm, rhymes,
and brilliant art. For The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Carle played with
the form of the book and developed pages of different shapes and
widths — an experiment influenced by the books he read as a child
in Germany. Although no printer in the United States could be
found to manufacture economically a book with so many die cuts,
Beneduce located a printer in Japan who was able to produce the
book. Since that time, The Very Hungry Caterpillar has sold a copy a
minute somewhere in the world, more than 20 million altogether.
Over the years Carle has gone back to reillustrate many of his
popular volumes, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, aiming to
get a wider variety of colors and a cleaner design. In his studio, he
spatters colored tissue papers with paint to create special textures
and effects. After cutting the papers into the desired shapes, he
then pastes them in layers on cardboard. Sometimes he uses crayons
or ink to make the final touches. Carle works and reworks each
piece, aiming both for scientific accuracy and for visual excitement.
In November 2002, Eric Carle, his wife, Barbara, friends, and
colleagues opened the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.
Tucked in the hills of western Massachusetts, at Amherst, the museum
has quickly become a travel destination for families and
school groups who want to look at Carle"s original collages as well
as rotating exhibits of other artists" work. After presenting children
with one popular book after another, Eric Carle gave all of the
children of the United States and the world another unique gift —
our first permanent American museum to house original picturebook
art.
Copyright © 2004 by Anita Silvey. Reprinted by permission of Houghton
Mifflin Company.
Continues...
Excerpted from 100 Best Books for Children by Anita Silvey Copyright © 2004 by Anita Silvey. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.