GOODNIGHT, GOODNIGHT

by Eve Rice ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 1980

Nicely night-y, with the forms a phosphorescent white against a white-flecked black; with the darkening housefronts looming--and looking--like a Victorian stage-set; with the lit windows, the lamps, and the moon a sharp yellow; with a sense of the city slowly winding down, shutting down, the way the bunny's immediate, interior world settles down in Goodnight Moon. And, indeed, looking and listening (for it's a text that one mouths even in the reading), one thinks both of Lois Lenski's fix on public life and Margaret Wise Brown's snug domesticity. ""A lady coming home,"" holding her key, says ""Goodnight"" to her escort; ""a mama"" (on the opposite page) says ""Goodnight"" to her baby. A fireman and a policeman bid each other goodnight; a woman sipping tea says goodnight ""to the sleepy dog curled up in a ball."" The recurrent motif is a kitten on a rooftop calling for someone to come and play--until, as the last lights go out, the mother cat comes and (""Goodnight"") picks it up by the scruff of the neck. That story element is somewhat obvious, though youngsters will surely like it; elsewhere the audience is drawn in and invited to experience the onset of night--with every creature or object pictured.

Pub Date: Aug. 25, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Greenwillow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1980

Categories: CHILDREN'S