Goodnight Moon
Encyclopedia
Goodnight Moon is an American children's book
written by Margaret Wise Brown
and illustrated by Clement Hurd
. It was first published in 1947
, and is a highly acclaimed example of a bedtime story
. It is about a child saying goodnight to everything around: "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light, and the red balloon..."
, describing a bunny's bedtime ritual of saying "goodnight" to various objects in the bunny's bedroom: the red balloon, the bunny's dollhouse, the kittens, etc.
One aspect of this book is the wealth of detail in the illustrations. Although the entire story takes place in a single room, the careful reader or child will notice numerous details from page to page, including:
Author Susan Cooper
writes that the book is possibly the only "realistic story" to gain the universal affection of a fairy-tale, although she also noted that it is actually a "deceptively simple ritual" rather than a story.
Brown bequeathed the royalties to the book to (among many others) Albert Clarke, who was the nine year old son of a neighbor when Brown died. In 2000, reporter Joshua Prager detailed in the Wall Street Journal the troubled life of Mr. Clarke who has squandered the millions of dollars the book has earned him and who believes that Brown was his mother, a claim others dismiss.
In 2005, publisher HarperCollins
digitally altered the photograph of illustrator Hurd, which had been on the book for at least twenty years, to remove a cigarette. Kate Jackson, editor in chief for children's books, said "It is potentially a harmful message to very young kids." HarperCollins had the reluctant permission of Hurd's son, Thacher Hurd
, but the younger Hurd said the photo of Hurd with his arm and fingers extended, holding nothing, "looks slightly absurd to me." HarperCollins has said it will likely replace the picture with a different, unaltered photo of Hurd in future editions. In response, a satirical article demanded the removal of other potentially dangerous objects in the book, such as the fireplace and balloon (a choke hazard for young children).
The book is also available in French
, Spanish
, Hebrew
, Swedish
, Korean
and Hmong
translations.
. For example, the painting hanging over the fireplace of "The Cow Jumping Over the Moon" first appeared in The Runaway Bunny. However, when reprinted in Goodnight Moon, the udder "for caution's sake was reduced to an anatomical blur" to avoid the controversy that E.B. White's Stuart Little
had undergone when published in 1945 (Making of Goodnight Moon, 21). The other painting in the room, which is never explicitly mentioned in the text, portrays a bunny fly-fishing for another bunny, using a carrot as bait. This picture is also a reference to The Runaway Bunny. The top shelf of the bookshelf holds an open copy of The Runaway Bunny, and there is a copy of Goodnight Moon on the nightstand.
The telephone is mentioned early in the book, but is absent from the litany of 'Goodnight ...' salutations. The primacy of the reference to the telephone indicates that the bunny is in his mother's room and his mother's bed.
, Ellen Burstyn
is reciting it to her son dying of AIDS
, played by Jay Mohr
.
In 1999, HBO released Good Night Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales, a set of animations mixed with vignettes of children talking about sleeping and dreaming. "Goodnight Moon" is the first story and is revisited again at the end of the 30-minute special.
A one-hour children's musical was recently adapted by Chad Henry
and premiered in Seattle, Washington followed by a run at the North Shore Music Theatre
. It is targeted towards very young children and includes many of the objects from the story such as the bears in chairs and the cow jumping over the moon coming to life. The Chicago Children's Theatre will run the musical in Chicago, Oct 27th - Dec 24th 2011, at the historical Victory Gardens Biograph theatre.
The Dixie Chicks released a song written by Rodney Foster called "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)". It references "Goodnight Moon".
In The Wire episode Took, Kima Greggs ad libs a version to her son on the windowsill overlooking Baltimore cityscape and he repeats each line. "Goodnight moon, goodnight stars, goodnight po-pos, goodnight fiends, goodnight hoppers, goodnight hustlers, goodnight scammers, goodnight to everybody, goodnight one and all."
The Vancouver based indie band "Said The Whale," released a song called "Goodnight Moon" which contains direct references to the plot of the story book. Specifically, lyrics alluding to the children's book include "red balloon, great green room," and make reference to the childhood experience of the lyricist.
There is a reference to the book in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, as Batman lets himself fade into the afterlife
he reminisces on the book and sets similar wording to Gotham City
.
The final panel of Berke Breathed's comic strip Opus showed Opus sleeping with a copy of "Goodnight Moon". Unfortunately, this panel was available only online, and the Humane Society page that displayed it no longer exists.
In the episode of The Simpsons
entitled Insane Clown Poppy
Christopher Walken reads "Goodnight Moon" to a group of children.
In 2010 ASL Inside released an American Sign Language (ASL) version of Goodnight Moon through Scholastic. This version is available at http://www.aslinside.com and includes the original story, artwork, voiceover, music and read along captions.
A two-part episode of Knots Landing
, broadcast in December 1987 was named "Noises Everywhere", after the final line of the book. The first part was the show's 200th episode. Both episodes - which were largely improvised by the cast - are considered an important moment in the show's history. They focus on the aftermath of the death of Laura Avery-Sumner, who had been present since the first episode. Laura has made a video, in which she says her goodbyes to her friends and family. In the closing moments of part two, Laura's infant daughter, Meg is seen alone in a room, watching her mother read "Goodnight Moon" to her on the video.
The Tallahassee, Florida band, Go Radio
, released a song called "Goodnight Moon" on their EP Do Overs and Second Chances
. Following the writing style of the story, the first line of the chorus reads "Goodnight moon and goodnight you," and ends "Sit in our bedroom and read aloud, like a passage from Goodnight Moon."
The group Shivaree
recorded a song "Goodnight Moon," a narrative of trying to sleep alone while fearing night noises and imagined terrors. The last line and last chorus line is, "No it won't be too soon 'til I say goodnight moon."
In a Sunday version of the American comic strip Zits, Jeremy uses the "Goodnight..." phrase to describe a teenager going to sleep, ending with "Goodnight, dude."
The group Said The Whale, have also made a song titled "Goodnight Moon".
In January 2011, German
automaker Audi
released a television advertisement showcasing the new A8
. The commercial, conceived by the San Francisco-based advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners, was based on the book "Goodnight Moon". According to website greatads.blogspot.com, the highlight of the ad is a wry shot at Mercedes-Benz
, with the phrase: "Goodnight old luxury and all of your wares, goodnight bygones everywhere", as a Mercedes S-Class shown in the driveway extinguishes its headlights. The commercial ends with "Good morning illumination, good morning innovation, good morning unequalled inspiration.", as features of the A8 sedan are shown.
features the segment "Nighty Night Toon", a direct parody of the book. It features a Sterling Holloway
-like narrator and Slappy Squirrel as the Old Lady. A full-length parody of the book was published as Goodnight Bush
.
An episode of the kids show Dinosaurs featured Grandma reading a copy of Goodnight Rock to Baby Sinclair.
Mad Magazine #400 contained the article Goodnight Room illustrated by Jack Syracuse and written by Desmond Devlin
, depicting President Bill Clinton
's last days in office.
McSweeney's
featured a piece entitled Sparknotes: Goodnight Moon by Sean Walsh that uses Brown's book to parody the bloated elucidation of Sparknotes
.
Goodnight Dune was created by Julia Yu and combines Goodnight Moon and Dune
. It was inspired by a CollegeHumor
post called Five Sci-Fi Children's Books.
Goodnight Keith Moon, written by Bruce Worden and Clare Cross, is a parody based on the death of The Who
drummer, Keith Moon
. The book features many references to The Who as well as to Cass Elliot
who died in the same room years earlier.
and duodecimo paperback
editions, Goodnight Moon is available in board book
edition, a book whose pages are actually stiff cardboard to make it suitable to give to a very young child, as well as a "jumbo" edition, suitable for use with large groups.
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
written by Margaret Wise Brown
Margaret Wise Brown
Margaret Wise Brown was a prolific American author of children's literature, including the books Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny, both illustrated by Clement Hurd.-Biography:...
and illustrated by Clement Hurd
Clement Hurd
Clement G. Hurd was an American illustrator of children's books. He is best known for his collaborations with author Margaret Wise Brown, including Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny...
. It was first published in 1947
1947 in literature
The year 1947 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Diary of Anne Frank is published for the first time.*Jack Kerouac makes the journey which he will later chronicle in his book On the Road....
, and is a highly acclaimed example of a bedtime story
Bedtime story
A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare them for sleep.Bedtime stories have many advantages, for parents/adults and children alike. The fixed routine of a bedtime story before sleeping has a relaxing effect, and the soothing...
. It is about a child saying goodnight to everything around: "Goodnight room. Goodnight moon. Goodnight cow jumping over the moon. Goodnight light, and the red balloon..."
Plot summary
Goodnight Moon is classic children's literature in North America. The text is a poem, written in simple masculine rhymeMasculine rhyme
A masculine rhyme is a rhyme that matches only one syllable, usually at the end of respective lines. Often the final syllable is stressed.-English:In English prosody, a masculine rhyme is a rhyme on a single stressed syllable at the end of a line of poetry...
, describing a bunny's bedtime ritual of saying "goodnight" to various objects in the bunny's bedroom: the red balloon, the bunny's dollhouse, the kittens, etc.
One aspect of this book is the wealth of detail in the illustrations. Although the entire story takes place in a single room, the careful reader or child will notice numerous details from page to page, including:
- the hands on the two clocks progress from 7 PM to 8:10 PM.
- the young mouse and kittens wander around the room. The mouse is present in all pages showing the room.
- the red balloon hanging over the bed disappears in several of the color plates, then reappears at the end.
- the room lighting grows progressively darker.
- the moon rises in the left-hand window.
- the socks disappear from the drying rack.
- the open book in the bookshelf is The Runaway BunnyThe Runaway BunnyThe Runaway Bunny is a 1942 picture book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. The plot deals with a small rabbit, who wants to run away...
. - the book on the nightstand is Goodnight Moon.
- in the painting of the cow jumping over the moon, the mailbox in the right-hand side of the painting occasionally disappears.
- in the painting of the three bears, the painting hanging in the bears' room is a painting of a cow jumping over the moon.
- the painting of the fly-fishing bunny, which appears only in two color plates, appears to be black and white (or otherwise devoid of color). It is very similar to a picture in the book "The Runaway BunnyThe Runaway BunnyThe Runaway Bunny is a 1942 picture book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. The plot deals with a small rabbit, who wants to run away...
". - the number of books in the bookshelf changes.
- the pendulum of the bedside clock disappears in the final room scene
- the stripes on the bunny's shirt change
- in the last page the word bunny is gone off the brush
Literary significance and reception
Goodnight Moon slowly became a bestseller. Annual sales grew from about 1,500 copies in 1953 to 20,000 in 1970; and by 1990, the total number of copies sold was more than 4 million.Author Susan Cooper
Susan Cooper
Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...
writes that the book is possibly the only "realistic story" to gain the universal affection of a fairy-tale, although she also noted that it is actually a "deceptively simple ritual" rather than a story.
Brown bequeathed the royalties to the book to (among many others) Albert Clarke, who was the nine year old son of a neighbor when Brown died. In 2000, reporter Joshua Prager detailed in the Wall Street Journal the troubled life of Mr. Clarke who has squandered the millions of dollars the book has earned him and who believes that Brown was his mother, a claim others dismiss.
In 2005, publisher HarperCollins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
digitally altered the photograph of illustrator Hurd, which had been on the book for at least twenty years, to remove a cigarette. Kate Jackson, editor in chief for children's books, said "It is potentially a harmful message to very young kids." HarperCollins had the reluctant permission of Hurd's son, Thacher Hurd
Thacher Hurd
John Thacher Hurd is the artist and author of children's picture books including Mama Don't Allow and Art Dog.- Biography :Thacher Hurd is the son of children's book creators Clement Hurd and Edith Thacher Hurd. After attending the California College of Arts and Crafts, Thacher Hurd turned his...
, but the younger Hurd said the photo of Hurd with his arm and fingers extended, holding nothing, "looks slightly absurd to me." HarperCollins has said it will likely replace the picture with a different, unaltered photo of Hurd in future editions. In response, a satirical article demanded the removal of other potentially dangerous objects in the book, such as the fireplace and balloon (a choke hazard for young children).
The book is also available in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
, Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
and Hmong
Hmong language
Hmong or Mong is the common name for a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmong–Mien/Miao–Yao language family spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos...
translations.
Allusions to other works
Goodnight Moon contains a number of references to The Runaway BunnyThe Runaway Bunny
The Runaway Bunny is a 1942 picture book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. The plot deals with a small rabbit, who wants to run away...
. For example, the painting hanging over the fireplace of "The Cow Jumping Over the Moon" first appeared in The Runaway Bunny. However, when reprinted in Goodnight Moon, the udder "for caution's sake was reduced to an anatomical blur" to avoid the controversy that E.B. White's Stuart Little
Stuart Little
Stuart Little is a 1945 children's novel by E. B. White, his first book for children, and is widely recognized as a classic in children's literature. Stuart Little was illustrated by the subsequently award-winning artist Garth Williams, also his first work for children...
had undergone when published in 1945 (Making of Goodnight Moon, 21). The other painting in the room, which is never explicitly mentioned in the text, portrays a bunny fly-fishing for another bunny, using a carrot as bait. This picture is also a reference to The Runaway Bunny. The top shelf of the bookshelf holds an open copy of The Runaway Bunny, and there is a copy of Goodnight Moon on the nightstand.
The telephone is mentioned early in the book, but is absent from the litany of 'Goodnight ...' salutations. The primacy of the reference to the telephone indicates that the bunny is in his mother's room and his mother's bed.
Film, TV, music, or theatrical adaptations
In a 1998 movie Playing by HeartPlaying by Heart
Playing by Heart is a 1998 comedy-drama film, which tells the story of several seemingly unconnected characters.-Plot:Among the characters are a mature couple about to renew their vows ; a woman who accepts a date offer from a stranger ; a gay man dying of AIDS and his mother who has...
, Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
is reciting it to her son dying of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, played by Jay Mohr
Jay Mohr
Jay Mohr is an American actor and stand up comedian. He is known for his role as Professor Rick Payne in the TV series Ghost Whisperer, the title role in the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried, which ran from 2008 to 2010, and the back-stabbing sports agent Bob Sugar in Jerry Maguire.-Early life:Mohr was...
.
In 1999, HBO released Good Night Moon and Other Sleepytime Tales, a set of animations mixed with vignettes of children talking about sleeping and dreaming. "Goodnight Moon" is the first story and is revisited again at the end of the 30-minute special.
A one-hour children's musical was recently adapted by Chad Henry
Chad Henry
Chad Henry is an American composer, actor, lyricist, playwright, and author. He has written over twenty shows that premiere in his home state, Washington.-Biography:...
and premiered in Seattle, Washington followed by a run at the North Shore Music Theatre
North Shore Music Theatre
North Shore Music Theatre is the largest operating regional theater in New England. It is located in Beverly, Massachusetts and is one of the few remaining theatre-in-the-round stages left in the United States.-History:...
. It is targeted towards very young children and includes many of the objects from the story such as the bears in chairs and the cow jumping over the moon coming to life. The Chicago Children's Theatre will run the musical in Chicago, Oct 27th - Dec 24th 2011, at the historical Victory Gardens Biograph theatre.
The Dixie Chicks released a song written by Rodney Foster called "Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)". It references "Goodnight Moon".
In The Wire episode Took, Kima Greggs ad libs a version to her son on the windowsill overlooking Baltimore cityscape and he repeats each line. "Goodnight moon, goodnight stars, goodnight po-pos, goodnight fiends, goodnight hoppers, goodnight hustlers, goodnight scammers, goodnight to everybody, goodnight one and all."
The Vancouver based indie band "Said The Whale," released a song called "Goodnight Moon" which contains direct references to the plot of the story book. Specifically, lyrics alluding to the children's book include "red balloon, great green room," and make reference to the childhood experience of the lyricist.
There is a reference to the book in Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?, as Batman lets himself fade into the afterlife
Afterlife
The afterlife is the belief that a part of, or essence of, or soul of an individual, which carries with it and confers personal identity, survives the death of the body of this world and this lifetime, by natural or supernatural means, in contrast to the belief in eternal...
he reminisces on the book and sets similar wording to Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
.
The final panel of Berke Breathed's comic strip Opus showed Opus sleeping with a copy of "Goodnight Moon". Unfortunately, this panel was available only online, and the Humane Society page that displayed it no longer exists.
In the episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
entitled Insane Clown Poppy
Insane Clown Poppy
"Insane Clown Poppy" is the third episode of the twelfth season of The Simpsons. It aired on November 12, 2000 in the US. In the episode, during an outdoor book fair, Krusty finds out he has a daughter , but loses her trust after gambling away her violin to Fat Tony, prompting Homer and Krusty to...
Christopher Walken reads "Goodnight Moon" to a group of children.
In 2010 ASL Inside released an American Sign Language (ASL) version of Goodnight Moon through Scholastic. This version is available at http://www.aslinside.com and includes the original story, artwork, voiceover, music and read along captions.
A two-part episode of Knots Landing
Knots Landing
Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
, broadcast in December 1987 was named "Noises Everywhere", after the final line of the book. The first part was the show's 200th episode. Both episodes - which were largely improvised by the cast - are considered an important moment in the show's history. They focus on the aftermath of the death of Laura Avery-Sumner, who had been present since the first episode. Laura has made a video, in which she says her goodbyes to her friends and family. In the closing moments of part two, Laura's infant daughter, Meg is seen alone in a room, watching her mother read "Goodnight Moon" to her on the video.
The Tallahassee, Florida band, Go Radio
Go Radio
Go Radio is a rock band from Tallahassee, Florida, formed by former Mayday Parade vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Jason Lancaster in April 2007.The band has toured with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, A Day to Remember, as well as Mayday Parade...
, released a song called "Goodnight Moon" on their EP Do Overs and Second Chances
Do Overs and Second Chances
-Chart performance:-Personnel:*Jason Lancaster – lead vocals, guitar, keyboard*Alex Reed – guitar, vocals*Matt Burns – bass, backing vocals*Steven Kopacz – drums...
. Following the writing style of the story, the first line of the chorus reads "Goodnight moon and goodnight you," and ends "Sit in our bedroom and read aloud, like a passage from Goodnight Moon."
The group Shivaree
Shivaree
Shivaree may refer to:* Shivaree , a clamorous salutation made to a newlywed couple* Shivaree , an American band formed in 1997* Shivaree , a play by William Mastrosimone...
recorded a song "Goodnight Moon," a narrative of trying to sleep alone while fearing night noises and imagined terrors. The last line and last chorus line is, "No it won't be too soon 'til I say goodnight moon."
In a Sunday version of the American comic strip Zits, Jeremy uses the "Goodnight..." phrase to describe a teenager going to sleep, ending with "Goodnight, dude."
The group Said The Whale, have also made a song titled "Goodnight Moon".
In January 2011, German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
automaker Audi
Audi
Audi AG is a German automobile manufacturer, from supermini to crossover SUVs in various body styles and price ranges that are marketed under the Audi brand , positioned as the premium brand within the Volkswagen Group....
released a television advertisement showcasing the new A8
Audi A8
The Audi A8 is a four-door, full-size, luxury sedan car manufactured and marketed by the German automaker Audi since 1994. Succeeding the Audi V8, the A8 has been offered with front wheel drive or permanent four-wheel drive, with multitronic or tiptronic automatic transmissions — and in short- and...
. The commercial, conceived by the San Francisco-based advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners, was based on the book "Goodnight Moon". According to website greatads.blogspot.com, the highlight of the ad is a wry shot at Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
, with the phrase: "Goodnight old luxury and all of your wares, goodnight bygones everywhere", as a Mercedes S-Class shown in the driveway extinguishes its headlights. The commercial ends with "Good morning illumination, good morning innovation, good morning unequalled inspiration.", as features of the A8 sedan are shown.
Satire / Parody
An episode of AnimaniacsAnimaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...
features the segment "Nighty Night Toon", a direct parody of the book. It features a Sterling Holloway
Sterling Holloway
Sterling Price Holloway, Jr. was an American character actor who appeared in 150 films and television programs. He was also a voice actor for The Walt Disney Company...
-like narrator and Slappy Squirrel as the Old Lady. A full-length parody of the book was published as Goodnight Bush
Goodnight Bush
Goodnight Bush: A Parody is a book by Gan Golan and Erich Origen, former employees of Donald Rumsfeld who met while working at a dot-com. Published on May 27, 2008, it takes a satirical look back at the presidency of George W. Bush, using the popular children's book Goodnight Moon as a jumping...
.
An episode of the kids show Dinosaurs featured Grandma reading a copy of Goodnight Rock to Baby Sinclair.
Mad Magazine #400 contained the article Goodnight Room illustrated by Jack Syracuse and written by Desmond Devlin
Desmond Devlin
Desmond Devlin is an American comedy writer. His work has appeared in the pages of MAD for a quarter-century, and he ranks as one of the magazine's ten most frequent non-illustrating writers...
, depicting President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
's last days in office.
McSweeney's
McSweeney's
McSweeney's is an American publishing house founded by editor Dave Eggers.Apart from its book list, McSweeney's is responsible for four regular publications: the quarterly literary journal,...
featured a piece entitled Sparknotes: Goodnight Moon by Sean Walsh that uses Brown's book to parody the bloated elucidation of Sparknotes
SparkNotes
SparkNotes, originally part of a website called The Spark, is a company started by Harvard students Sam Yagan, Max Krohn, Chris Coyne, and Eli Bolotin in 1999 that originally provided study guides for literature, poetry, history, film, and philosophy...
.
Goodnight Dune was created by Julia Yu and combines Goodnight Moon and Dune
Dune (novel)
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
. It was inspired by a CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor
CollegeHumor is a comedy website owned by InterActiveCorp and based in New York City. The site features daily original comedy videos and articles created by its in-house writing and production team, in addition to user-submitted videos, pictures, articles and links. In early 2009, CollegeHumor's...
post called Five Sci-Fi Children's Books.
Goodnight Keith Moon, written by Bruce Worden and Clare Cross, is a parody based on the death of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
drummer, Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
. The book features many references to The Who as well as to Cass Elliot
Cass Elliot
Cass Elliot , born Ellen Naomi Cohen and also known as Mama Cass, was an American singer and member of The Mamas & the Papas. After the group broke up, she released five solo albums. Elliot was found dead in her room in London, England, from an apparent heart attack after two weeks of sold-out...
who died in the same room years earlier.
Publication history
In addition to multiple octavoOctavo (book)
Octavo is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multiple pages of text were printed to form the individual sections of a book...
and duodecimo paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
editions, Goodnight Moon is available in board book
Board book
A board book is a type of book printed on thick paperboard. The paperboard is printed and used for both the cover and the interior pages. Each page panel is a minimum of two plies of paperboard thickness. Unlike a typical paper book that is bound with saddle stitching or perfect binding, a...
edition, a book whose pages are actually stiff cardboard to make it suitable to give to a very young child, as well as a "jumbo" edition, suitable for use with large groups.
- 1991, USA, HarperFestival ISBN 0-694-00361-1, Pub date 30 September 1991, board book
- 1997, USA, HarperCollins ISBN 0-06-027504-9, Pub date 28 February 1997, Hardback 50th anniversary edition
- 2007, USA, HarperCollins ISBN 0-694-00361-1, Pub date 23 January 2007, Board book 60th anniversary edition