Goodnight Moon

The first book I ever read to Daniel, when he was just a few days old, was "Goodnight Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown. It was my favorite book when I was a child, and I can still remember the sense of quiet I felt as I listened to my mother read it.

In the great green room
There was a telephone
And a red balloon
And a picture of-

The cow jumping over the moon
And there were three little bears sitting on chairs

And two little kittens
And a pair of mittens
And a little toyhouse
And a young mouse

And a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush
And a quiet old lady who was whispering "hush"

Did you know these facts about the book?

• On every color page, you can find the little mouse hiding somewhere.
• "The Runaway Bunny", Margaret Wise Brown's other classic book, is on the bookshelf.
• The painting on the wall of the bunny fishing is actually a drawing from "The Runaway Bunny."
• There is a copy of "Goodnight Moon" on the nightstand beside the bed.
• The three little bears have a picture of the cow jumping over the moon on their wall.
• The Simpsons had an episode with Christopher Walken (brrrrr) reading the book to a group of increasingly frightened children. Yeah, that would put me over the edge.
• The book is referred to in The Exorcist III. (Goodnight moon, goodnight stars, goodnight Amy.)
• Opus enjoys his own version of "Goodnight Moon" in Bloom County.
• Zits (one of my favorite comics about a teenage boy...I envision Daniel in a dozen years) did a parody of the book called "Goodnight Dude."