When you hear the name Margaret Wise Brown, most people think of Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny—and for good reason. They’re the perfect bedtime books for little children—comforting and reassuring, simple yet rich with meaning. These days, when my daughter requests Goodnight Moon at bedtime, we play a game of finding the tiny mouse on every page, then she finds something new in the great green room to focus on. One night it’s the intriguing red doll on top of the bookcase, the next night it’s the flames roaring in the fireplace—until finally she’s lulled to sleep by the soothing lilting text.
But Margaret Wise Brown (who, by the way, was gorgeous and glamorous and led a very interesting, colorful life) wrote hundreds of stories for children, many of them still in print today. I’m grateful that she was such a prolific writer. In fact, I’m still in the process of discovering all her books and introducing them to my children, but so far, my favorites include Big Red Barn, Two Little Trains, and Little Fur Family.
As with most of Brown’s stories, animals are the main characters in Big Red Barn. In this particular
book, we’re introduced to various farm creatures as they go about their daily routine and return to the big red barn to sleep (except for the mice and bats, of course, who are just beginning their day). Describing the simple plotless story really doesn’t do justice to the charm of this book. The rhythm of the words, the sweet images, and the comforting routine of farm life are just what little kids need to end their own busy day.
Two Little Trains (newly illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon) features a big, sleek grown-up train on the left-hand page and a small toy train on the right-hand page. Side by side these two trains go on a journey (one real, one imaginary) through rivers, hills, storms, and more. Brown’s words magically capture the chug-chug, puff-puff rhythm of trains on the track and the illustrations are just as lovely.
When you see and touch Little Fur Family, you’ll know right away that this is going to be a strange, delightful story. Newer editions of this book (regular-size and teeny-tiny-size) come covered in soft, fake brown fur. Inside, you learn “there was a little fur family/warm as toast/smaller than most” and you follow a little fur child as he plays “in the wild wood where they lived.” The story is nonsensical yet makes perfect sense.
Finally, if your little one loves Goodnight Moon (who doesn’t?) and you haven’t read My World to your child, I suggest giving it a try. Published two years after Goodnight Moon, My World (also illustrated by Clement Hurd) features the same rabbit family and follows a similar format (color pictures followed by simple black-and-white images). But in this companion book, the young rabbit of Goodnight Moon ventures outside the great green room. Little kids will love the way the words and images contrast a child’s world with his parents’. The overall feeling is reassuring and bravely optimistic.
