This is Love In the Great Green Room
Jan 8, 2025
Leonard Marcus, a children's book historian and biographer of Margaret Wise Brown, unpacks the story behind Goodnight Moon. He explores Margaret's childhood and writing methods. He discusses the book's structure and ritual, Clement Hurd's hidden illustration details, early librarian pushback, and how the story moves from a single room to the cosmos.
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Writing For Kids Came From Listening At Bank Street
- Margaret Wise Brown learned to write for children by observing them and recording their phrases at Bank Street School.
- She asked kids questions like "what is the quietest and quickest thing you can think of?" and used their answers (mouse, eggs) as creative seeds.
Everyday Objects Are Valid Subjects For Children's Books
- Bank Street educators favored books about everyday city life rather than fairy tales, arguing familiar objects are interesting to children.
- Lucy Mitchell wrote, "It is only the blind eye of the adult that finds the familiar uninteresting."
Margaret Invented Board Books And Encouraged Noise
- Margaret created the modern board book and books that invited noise and play, defying librarian expectations of silence and preciousness.
- Her Noisy Book encouraged kids to imitate jackhammers and horses and see books as objects to touch and use.
