My World: A Companion to Goodnight Moon [Board book]

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

Book Description

Age Level: 1 and up | Grade Level: P and up

With delightful illustrations and poetic words, follow the bunny as he greets all things familiar in "Your world. My world."

The perfect companion to the classic goodnight story, Goodnight Moon.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For a small bunny, the big world can be boiled down to "My slippers. / My pajamas. / Daddy's pajamas," and "Mother's chair. / My chair. / A low chair. / A high chair. / But certainly my chair." Back in print after more than 30 years, My World by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd is every bit as reassuring and appealing to young children as its more famous companion, Goodnight Moon. Using the same format, this tale features the rabbit family as they go through their day: brushing teeth, eating breakfast, going fishing, reading stories, and climbing into bed. Black-and-white illustrations alternate with full-color scenes depicting the ever-expanding (yet still comfortably contained) boundaries of a child's life. In one image, the young bunny, clad in blue coveralls, hammers happily on his wooden truck, while Daddy, in matching coveralls, works on his own (real) car just outside the garage. Very young fans of the classic Goodnight Moon will delight in recognizing the characters, illustration style, and gentle rhythmic words in this over-50-year-old picture book. For that matter, older fans will be pretty tickled, too! (Ages 2 to 6) --Emilie Coulter --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Originally published in 1949 (two years after Goodnight Moon) and out of print for more than 30 years, this melodic companion narrated by the endearing rabbit child introduces those elements of his life that he holds most dear. Brown's minimal text has a dreamlike, impressionistic quality reminiscent of her earlier book, yet the narrative adheres to a child's sense of logic as the bunny strings together the items and activities that fill his day. He defines his world in terms of his parents: "Daddy's boy./ Mother's boy./ My boy is just a toy/ Bear." In alternating spreads, Hurd portrays simple, black-and-white images of items or pastimes (the child's toothbrush hanging on a hook next to his father's; father and son fishing together) and full-color scenarios (recolored by Clement's son Thacher) spawned by those images (the boy brushes his teeth as one parent soaks in the tub and the other primps in front of a mirror; the family gathers around the table to dine on freshly caught fish). The final color spread underscores the volume's universality, as well as the little rabbit's contentment: swinging from a tree branch as his parents sit nearby on the porch, he announces: "Your world./ My world./ I can swing/ Right over the world." The volume's words and pictures stretch the boundaries of its time-honored predecessor, affirming that there is, indeed, a warm and welcoming world beyond the great green room. Ages 1-4.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 1 and up
  
• Board book: 36 pages
• Publisher: HarperFestival (January 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694008621
• ISBN-13: 978-0694008629
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #30,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Animals > Rabbits > Fiction
  • #24 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Baby-3 > Basic Concepts > Sense & Sensation
  • #44 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Rabbits

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not an Enduring Masterpiece, November 6, 2001

By 

Amy (Alexandria, Vatican City State (Holy See)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: My World: A Companion to Goodnight Moon (Hardcover)

My son can listen to and look at "Goodnight Moon" and "Runaway Bunny" ten times each time we sit down with them. We barely got through "My World" once.

The rhymes simply don't click and the story is not interesting enough to make up for it. I believe the illustration that made my son ask the most questions was one of toothbrushes hanging by strings on nails in the wall. He had never seen such a thing, but seemed interested in the prospect of putting his toothbrush on the wall.

I suppose that was the reason he really didn't get interested in the book: he didn't identify with it. His daddy doesn't go fishing or sit on the front porch smoking his pipe. Now, he's never become a sailboat as the bunny in "Runaway Bunny" did either, but he was interested in the idea; it captured his imagination. "My World" didn't.

Perhaps there are some children who might enjoy this, but definitely take it out of the library first before you buy it.

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Didn't live up to my expectations, September 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: My World: A Companion to Goodnight Moon (Hardcover)

I waited with great anticipation only to be disappointed. The smooth, flowing rhymes of the other Margaret Wise Brown books were not present in this book. My 2-1/2 year old enjoyed looking at the cover (he instantly recognized the rabbits he loved in Good Night Moon), but he quickly lost interest when we started reading. Even my husband didn't want to continue reading the book. I would definitely recommend purchasing Good Night Moon, The Runaway Bunny, or Big Red Barn instead. My son (and I) thoroughly enjoyed each of them!

39 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gentle, Simple Masterpiece....., September 17, 2001

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: My World: A Companion to Goodnight Moon (Hardcover)

Those who were raised on and loved Goodnight Moon will be thrilled to see its companion book, My World, back in print after a 30 year absence. Get reacquainted with the rabbit family as little bunny explores the safe and familiar world around him. Margaret Wise Brown's gentle, understated text: "Mother's chair./My chair./A low chair./A high chair." or "Daddy's boy./Mother's boy./My boy is just a toy./Bear" is soothing, poetic and rhythmic and beautifully complemented by Clement Hurd's engaging family scenes. In My World he alternates black and white pages featuring the simple items of little bunny's life, Daddy's toothbrush hanging beside little bunny's toothbrush, a large and small comb lying next to each other or Daddy's slippers next to bunny's own pair of slippers with full color more expansive family spreads, the family preparing and eating breakfast or all washing up and getting ready for bed. Perfect for children as young as one, My World is a comforting, reassuring, timeless treasure to be read again and again and shared and passed down to future generations.