Bonsoir Lune / Goodnight Moon (French Edition) [Paperback]

Margaret Wise Brown (Author), Clement Hurd (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2002 | Age Range: 2 and up

Book Details:

• Format: Paperback
• Publication Date: 6/1/1997
• Pages: 128
• Reading Level: Age 2 and Up

Product Details

• Age Range: 2 and up
  
• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Editions De L'ecole; ECOLE DES LOISIRS edition (January 2002)
• Language: French
• ISBN-10: 2211072933
• ISBN-13: 978-2211072939
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.2 x 5.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,684 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #64 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Rabbits
  • #85 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Language Learning

More About the Author

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Even though she died over 45 years ago, her books still sell very well. Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading. She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them. She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper. Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Good for teaching French, but not as magical as the original March 9, 2005

By Melissa M. Manwaring

Format:Paperback

This book is a near-literal translation of the original "Good Night Moon," including copies of the original pictures. Because my 18-month-old loves the original English version, and because I'm trying to teach him French, I ordered "Bonsoir Lune" so that he could associate the French words with the pictures and story that he already knows in English. For that purpose, it works fine.

I was, however, disappointed with the color and quality of the pictures in this version. First, the colors do not match the original very well; for instance, the red shades from the original look hot pink in the French version. This is not purely an aesthetic complaint: it can be confusing to your child when you're reading about a "ballon rouge" - a red balloon - that's actually pink. Moreover, the pictures in the French version appear to be nothing more than color photocopies of the originals. They're far less clear and sharp than the originals, particularly toward the end when the room scene gets darker and darker.

In addition, much of the poetry and rhythm of the English version is lost in the French. The rhyming couplets in the English (such as "Goodnight bears, goodnight chairs") are translated faithfully, but as a result they don't have the same rhyme or rhythm ("Bonsoir oursons, bonsoir les chaises"). Translators often have to decide whether to translate as literally as possible or to translate more freely in order to retain the overall sound and impression, and in this case the translators went with the former route. So, if your primary interest is in using the French version as a companion piece to the English version in order to teach your little one French, then the literalness of the translation is a good thing. However, if you're expecting the translation to capture the same soothing rhyme patterns as the original, you'll be disappointed. (I found only one exception to the literalness of the translation - the final phrase "Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere" is translated as "Bonsoir les etoiles, bonsoir l'air, bonsoir les bruits de la terre" - which isn't quite literal but does preserve a bit of the poetry).

Finally, I should point out that this version is *completely* in French - no English "subtitles" or French pronunciation guides - so it's probably best for those who know French fairly well or who know the English version by heart.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars poorly translated! August 14, 2007

By K. Hancock

Format:Paperback

The French translation for this book is not well done. I do not recommend it for anyone who is trying to teach their child proper French. The entire premise is that it's a bedtime book, and "Goodnight moon" implies saying goodnight as one goes to bed. "Bonsoir lune" implies more of a "good evening", as if one were being greeted in a restaurant for dinner. "Bonne nuit" would be a much more appropriate translation. This is just an example of several contextual as well as technical translating errors throughout the book.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A favorite story en Francais! February 14, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This is the French version of the popular "Goodnight Moon." Iwas looking all over for some simple French storybooks to read to my baby (now 12 months) and was delighted to find this book we are already familiar with. I haven't used my French much since college, but I would like for my baby to learn the language at a young age. I have purchased other French children's books on-line but found they were for older children (those who won't be flipping the pages every 5 words) and required a French dictionary nearby for my limited vocabulary. Since I have pretty much memorized the English-version "Goodnight Moon" and so has he, this is a good one for us to start out with.