7. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

Bibliographic Citation:

Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight Moon. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1982. 32 p. ISBN 0064430170

Awards/Selection Lists:

2007 National Education Association "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children"
2012 School Library Journal "Top 100 Picture Books of All Time" 

Format Examined:

Paperback

Annotation:

As a little rabbit gets ready to go to sleep, he tells all of the familiar things around him goodnight, one by one, until he is asleep.

Personal Reaction:

Goodnight Moon is a beautifully written and illustrated book, perfect to be read as a bedtime story. A little rabbit says goodnight to all of the things he finds most familiar, as an old lady rabbit sits in her rocking chair knitting. The room darkens a little at the time as they little rabbit continues saying goodnight to his surroundings, first to the room itself, and ending with "noises everywhere" as the book closes to a dark room. The gentleness of the story is mesmerizing as it lulls the reader and listeners into a quiet state.

Age Recommendation:

I would recommend this book for children 0-4 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Bedtime, gentleness, nighttime

Early Literacy Skill Value:

Letter Knowledge:
Letter knowledge is not a direct focus of this book.

Narrative Skills:
The gentle, rhythmic text encourages children to say goodnight to each object as the little rabbit does.

Phonological Awareness:
The use of lyrical lines and rhyming words calls attention to phonological sounds within the story. 

Print Awareness:
The illustrations alternate between black and white and color throughout the book. On pages with black and white artwork, the text is black, while on color pages, the text is printed in the upper and lower corners in red. This technique draws attention to the words in a way that allows it to stand out without taking away from the illustrations on the page.

Print Motivation:
The repetition, rhyme, gentle text, and soft illustrations work together to make this a bedtime book that will be asked for over and over again for many more years to come.

Vocabulary:

Objects are identified through the little rabbit saying goodnight to each object individually. 

Author/ Illustrator Website:
Author, Margaret Wise Brown's website: http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/ 
No official site available for the illustrator