Two Minutes Du Jour

Goodnight Moon, the cherished bedtime story, has lulled generations of children to sleep and it’s one of my favorite books to give new parents and their babies.

Jogging your memory, the book conjures up a serene, maternal figure—the quiet old lady whispering “hush” in the great green room. However, the life of Margaret Wise Brown, the book’s author, was anything but quiet, conventional, old-fashioned or motherly.

Margaret Wise Brown was a vivacious, rule-breaking adventurer. With her striking Katharine Hepburn-esque appearance and a lifestyle that included European travels and fast cars, Margaret was a compelling contradiction, embodying the gentle and the wild.

Her approach to children’s literature was equally radical for its time. In the 1930s, when moralistic tales dominated children’s books, Margaret shifted the focus to young children’s sensory and immediate worlds.

Drawing inspiration from modernist art and literature, she created stories with rhythms and colors from everyday life. Goodnight Moon celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2022, It is a testament to Margaret’s innovative spirit, combining the simple, comforting act of saying goodnight with a lyrical, almost hypnotic cadence that has captivated readers and listeners ever since.

Margaret’s life, marked by passionate relationships and a tragic early death at 42, adds a layer of depth to her seemingly straightforward stories. Her works, as revealed in an article in The New Yorker, were born from a life that embraced both the beauty and complexity of the world.

As I give Goodnight Moon to new parents, hoping to provide their newborns with a sense of calm and wonder, I also pass on a piece of the author’s legacy—a legacy that challenges us to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Her life reminds us that the creators of even the simplest stories can have the most compelling lives and that behind the quiet scenes of our favorite stories often lie radical and profound insights.

Margaret Wise Brown was more than just an author; she was a pioneer who transformed children’s literature by daring to treat young readers as sophisticated individuals capable of appreciating art in all its forms. With each page of Goodnight Moon, let’s remember the radical woman who created it, whose own story teaches us the joy of observing the beauty of life and the richness that can be found in the lives of those who author our beloved books.

Links Du Jour:

The Radical Woman Behind “Goodnight Moon” – New Yorker Magazine

Goodnight Moon has Comforted Kids at Bedtime for 75 Years — NPR

In the Great Green Room by Amy Gary – a biography of Margaret Wise Brown

The Upstairs House by Julia Fine – a fictional account of new motherhood and postpartum depression that pays homage to Margaret Wise Brown