Goodnight Moon, 60th Anniversary Edition

by Margaret Wise Brown, Clement Hurd

book data

12,723 ratings, 4.35 average rating, 888 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		58%
4		23%
3		13%
2		3%
1		1%

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published

September 1st 2005 (first published 1947) by HarperCollins

binding

Hardcover, 32 pages

isbn

0060775858 (isbn13: 9780060775858)

description

Perhaps the perfect children's bedtime book, Goodnight Moon is a short poem of goodnight wishes from a young rabbit preparing for--or attempting to po...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 13,793)

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03/21/08

Rosieface rated it:

recommends it for: children

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like this review? yes (8 people liked it)

2 comments

11/13/08

Jessica rated it:

why do people like this book? finding the little mouse on each page is fun, but other than that it's just a dumb book. there is a lame attempt to rhyme...sometimes. there's no rhythm. i don't get it.

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

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03/15/08

Benjamingibbs rated it:

The baby bunny is oddly unengaged with a temperamental grandma bunny as he (or she) watches the room grow darker (even though the moon rises). Despite these inconsistencies and occasional strange reading cadences (goodnight nobody? what does that mean), I would recommend book to anyone interested in going to bed at night and suffers from separation anxiety with inanimate objects.

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

08/14/07

kristen rated it:

have you ever had a feeling that you were staring at a glimpse of your future? every time i recite this story to my kids (for i have read it so many times i have it memorized), i can tell it's one that i'll read to my grandkids and get a little teary-eyed with remembrance of how little my boys used to be, and how this book calmed them. it's very simple; the entire thing is probably shorter than this paragraph i am writing. but i've always maintained it's in how you read it, not necessarily th...more

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06/30/07

John Beeler rated it:

(review of isbn 0694003611)

bookshelves: sharedwithcosi

What is about this book that haunts me? Is it the deep sense of emptiness? That the room stays the same, but objects move and light slowly fades into dark? That the narrator has no connection at all with the only other "human," the old lady whispering hush?

Or is that that the narrator says goodnight to "nobody," that as we go outside her room, we see only stars - no people, no cities. It's as if this little bunny is the last one on earth, and is being watched by ...more

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11/30/08

Matt rated it:

I have read this to my daughter since she was two months old. She is now 20 months old going on 21 months and I have to say that I grown to appreciate this book. This is not only due to the enjoyment she gets or because the little rabbit procrastinates going to bed like my little one does. No, like all great children's literature, this book has a couple of layers. I enjoy this book because I think it's about a child's version of death. I'm not crazy - promise! Maybe it's the perplexing Old Lady ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

12/10/08

Rich rated it:

Read in August, 2007

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I first read this book in August of 2007, and I liked it so much that I've read it every evening for nearly 500 consecutive days now. I was initially attracted to the simple sweetness of the story, but with each reading another complex layer is revealed, and more questions arise.

A close inspection of the room's artwork gives you your first clue that not all is right with this world. The cow jumping over the moon? Standard nursery wall fare. The three bears? More storybook silliness, ...more I first read this book in August of 2007, and I liked it so much that I've read it every evening for nearly 500 consecutive days now. I was initially attracted to the simple sweetness of the story, but with each reading another complex layer is revealed, and more questions arise.

A close inspection of the room's artwork gives you your first clue that not all is right with this world. The cow jumping over the moon? Standard nursery wall fare. The three bears? More storybook silliness, but wait... there's no Goldilocks in the picture, or overturned chairs/porridge bowls. There are just three naked bears in an empty room, sitting quietly in low chairs with their arms crossed. Madness, but nothing compared to the depraved picture on the opposite wall, in which a grown rabbit wearing wading pants is using a carrot on a line to fish for bunnies.

Then there's the full bowl of mush carelessly left next to the bed. The mouse will certainly eat the mush once everyone is asleep, provided that the kittens don't eat the mouse first. And I do not know much about 1940's culture, but I think it's legitimate to ask whether a family of rabbits in a single-room-occupancy could afford such treasures as helium baloons and leopard-skin rugs.

Who exactly is living in this room? There is an adult, but the bunny never says "Mommy" or "Nana" but instead only refers to "the old lady whispering 'hush'." I don't want to believe that the protagonist was kidnapped down by the river by the Evil Fisherman Rabbit, but it becomes increasingly difficult to believe otherwise.

As the bunny goes through his nightly routine, the story leaves Fairyland and enters the Theatere of the Absurd. "Goodnight comb and goodnight brush," the bunny whispers, lest the old lady hush him again. "Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush." Whoa. That's some existential stuff right there. "Goodnight nobody"... the silly playfulness of a child, or the stark realization of life's essential emptiness? And "goodnight mush" may be the saddest two words in the English language.

The final page brings with it more mysteries. (Spoiler alert!) The old lady has suddenly disappeared, presumably eaten by the kittens who now occupy her rocking chair. Meanwhile, the bunny babbles "goodnight noises everywhere," desparately tring to silence the clamor in his head.

All in all, "Goodnight Moon" is a complex tome that my son (literally) and I (figuratively) can really sink our teeth into.(less)

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04/27/08

Tortla rated it:

bookshelves: animals, chidderbooks

I think I need to re-read this. People's reviews make it sound wonderfully disturbing. Perhaps many children's books are like this when read by a non-child. Perhaps that's the point. But I never really thought of this little book as much more than an obvious ploy to get kids to fall asleep by reading it to them...what with the repeated "goodnight" and the weirdly color-saturated pictures and the lack of...plot. But maybe the obvious ploy was part of a larger (less obvious) ploy to get ...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

4 comments

08/06/07

Belinda rated it:

(review of isbn 0694003611)

bookshelves: children

recommends it for: kids with no concept of boring-ness or bad poetry

Look, I KNOW this has become a children's classic, and that it's much-beloved by many who grew up having it read to them. We had it for Bella when she was really little. Fortunately, we didn't have to read it to her very often, because SHE didn't like it. It didn't hold her attention--and who could blame her? Stacked up next to Where The Wild Things Are, this thing does not stand a chance. The "poem" in it doesn't adhere to any consistent meter or rhyme scheme...I think it's jus...more

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

02/20/09

Morning Star rated it:

bookshelves: children

We have read this book over and over so many times throughout so many years that it had become part of our family's young years' tradition at bedtime. Oh happy memories.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

2 comments

01/06/09

Rob rated it:

bookshelves: children-s

My wife makes fun of me, but this book drives me nuts! Who says goodnight to a bowl of mush!?

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

12/23/08

Evan added it

this book got me through some tough times.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

04/02/09

Michael Grogan rated it:

Read in January, 1999

I came across this “classic” today and…well…where do I begin? The back cover advises that this “is the perfect first book to share with a child.” My family agreed so I had to read this inane “story” every night to my son until I was able to locate significantly better board books. That is, until I made it to the local bookshop and grabbed any and everything that wasn’t Goodnight Moon. Ten years later, my son disdains books and, upon rediscovering this, I now know why. Now I und...more

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11/24/08

Sri rated it:

bookshelves: children

Read in November, 2008

Bintang tiga dari aku yang sudah bukan anak-anak lagi. Kalau membaca review buku ini di Goodreads, pada umumnya disebutkan kalau anak-anak sangat menyukainya.
Mungkin karena dengan buku ini anak bisa mencocokkan kalimat dengan gambarnya, misalnya mana balon mana telepon, mana kittens mana mittens.
Trus bisa nyari-nyari tikusnya sedang di mana.
Trus kalimatnya berima.
Jadi mungkin, kalau Damar sudah bisa bahasa Inggris, dan Damar masih anak-anak Damar akan memberi lima bin...more

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10/06/07

Karey rated it:

bookshelves: childrens-books, classics

Read in January, 1987

My dear childhood friend gave me this book when my first child was born. I read it to him long before he could understand the words, (translating, as I often did on the fly, into French). He, and my children that came after, often fell asleep to the soothing repetition of Margaret Wise Brown's words, after having had a good snuggle in my lap, quietly pointing out the familiar and simply illustrated objects in the room.

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06/03/07

Patty rated it:

(review of isbn 0694003611)

bookshelves: childrens

I think I loved this book too much and read it to my daughter EVERY night at bedtime. Twenty years later (no, I only read it every night for two years I think!) she told me she really didn't like it as much!! Let this be a lesson, mothers. Anyway, it has great images, great language, and comfort.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

02/05/09

Krystal rated it:

bookshelves: bridget

Author: Margaret Wise Brown

Illustrator: Clement Hurd

Genre: Fiction Picture Book

Publication Info: Harper Collins: 2005

Reading Level: Ages 4-8 Early Early

Topic/Theme: Bedtime Story/ Belongingness

Issues Addressed: Everything works together as a whole. The bunny feels connected to these things.

Classroom Uses: Read Aloud, Individual Reading

Summary: The little bunny says goodnight to everything that is ...more

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07/28/08

Carrie rated it:

(review of isbn 0694003611)

At first I hated this book because it seemed so rediculous and the pictures aren't even that great, but my kids love it and want to read it over and over, which I guess is the sign of a good kids book.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

1 comment

06/05/09

Cg School rated it:

This was awesome. I love this book SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...more

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