Brown, M. W. (1947). Goodnight Moon. In M. W. Brown, Goodnight Moon (p. 30). USA: Harper & Row, Publishers, Incorporated.
ISBN 0-06-443017-0
Children’s Book Write-Up:
The content of the children’s book Goodnight Moon is a small ritual a little bunny does before he falls asleep. The little bunny says goodnight to all the different objects in his room including the stars, moon, and noises outside. The objects are chosen carefully as the last word in each line rhymes with the one above it. There are few words on each page allowing the reader to pause and the child to take in the pictures or imagine his or her own room and saying goodnight to the objects. As a child I remember Goodnight Moon clearly as the words would flow off of my mom or dads tongue. Bedtime is such a special time, a very personal time especially for children between the ages 3-5yrs old. This book to eases the worry of the darkness following and invites the favorite things around the room to join in the process of falling asleep, the soothing of a simple good night.
The Illustrations are a combination of green, blue, yellow and orange on one page and black and white on the next really inviting the reader into the darkness that is to come. The illustrations start off bright and as the darkness is invited in shadows start to loom and the only thing left to shine is the stars outside and the windows from the dollhouse in the left hand corner of the bunny’s room. The illustrations are simple, but are full of information as the story unfolds. For example, the clocks in the room at the beginning say 7pm and by the time the bunny has said his good nights to everything the clocks hands indicate 8:10pm. The clocks are showing a realistic time frame of how along a child may take to fall asleep. The moon goes from the left bottom corner to the top of the window, showing the realistic placements and movement the moon may take in that time frame. A small mouse is shown throughout the illustrations where the entire room is shown. The mood of resting, relaxing, and calming the mind and body for a peaceful night sleep is portrayed throughout, allowing ones own mind to go with the rhythm of the bunny. The details on each page allow children to get lost in the pictures over and over again, but the colors and simplicity at first glance invite the children into the story without being overwhelmed. The illustrations allow the children to wonder about each object as the bunny says goodnight to it, and wonder about the objects that were not touched on. For example, the red balloon, “I wonder why there is a red balloon.” As a child, having this book read to be me many times I remember the illustrations more then the words. The illustrations are the words and there for the story is told, with simple words and captivating illustrations.
A couple provocations an educator could do for Goodnight moon are: have a couple of the objects from the book spread out within ones classroom. For example, the red balloon, a bunny, and three little bears sitting in chairs. Leave the objects out for a couple days and then on the third or fourth day start adding a moon to the classroom and stars. As the week goes on add more stars maybe set up a small bed by the book corner. One could even go to the extent of dimming the lights around reading time. On the seventh day I would read the story and see if the children would notice the classroom is set up the same as the room in the book to invoke a lot of ‘I wonders and dendrites.’ Using props and setting the mood within the classroom will encourage discussion around the topic of the book without the book even being present yet.
A Story Presented 4 different ways:
1)Felt Board: With the felt board the story becomes more realistic as the characters are delicately placed on the board. 3H crafts provide an excellent felt story already made for this particular book, Goodnight Moon for a reasonable price. The props used for the felt board story are, ones own felt board and the felt characters. The neat idea around a felt board is one does not have to follow the story exactly, but can cut out parts or extend parts if he or she pleases to do so. The story is no longer presented in a small book, but on a board that every child can see, especially when the class is big. The children can gather around in a bunch instead of a circle, including everyone in the story. For the felt board story, the red balloon is an excellent spot to stop and wonder, “I wonder why there is a red balloon in the room? Does anyone else have any wonders about this room?” For the felt board way of presenting the story, the story may lose its magic if one were to chunk it. Another part I would stop and wonder about would be about the old lady saying hush, “I wonder who the old lady is? And I wonder what kind of noises one would hear at night around that time?”
2) Tell and Draw Stories: This method of story telling allows the children to be on the seat of their chairs in anticipation of what the educator is drawing while listening to the stories. I would do the drawing up in eight chunks (same sitting time though). Start with one ear, then the second, eye, mouth, head and back together, tail, big paw and knee, then last the front paw to create a bunny. About half way through the drawing I may ask, “I wonder what character is being created here, from the story” pointing at the drawing, “lets keep reading and find out”. After I am done drawing the bunny while discussing with the children about their goodnight rituals I would go back and draw the bunny in a different way to fit their story. The children could create their own, but that would lead us into an extension for the book . Imaginations soar with this way of showing the book as lines are being drawing, but the full picture is yet to be discovered.
3) Story Yoga: Goodnight Moon would be most effective with seven poses. One could read the story first to the children then act the poses out one by one. Having a puppet bunny to lead the children through the poses could create a fun a fun dynamic. If the story has been read prior to the story yoga session the children could say the ritual along with you, “Goodnight_______” , then do the following pose. Sit in the pose for a few moments. The educator could spark some “I wonders” by asking, “I wonder how a kitten sleeps? Or how the Moon sleeps? Etc. The whole session should take around twenty minutes. At the end in the very last scene when the bunny says, “ Goodnight noises everywhere” the educator should simple tell the children just to release all the noises in ones body and relax. The sleeping pose should last for about two minutes give or take a few minutes.
4) Puppet Show/Story Box: Puppet Show is a magical time where the educator disappears and characters from a book come alive engaging the children on a very intimate story time. With the puppet show the educator must have ready and set aside: a magical apron (to place over clothing, usually made of silk), a basket (to carry the puppets in), scarves or silks (to cover the basket and to lay out on the ground to create the setting for the show), props and puppets (in this puppet show: a bed, a red balloon, cow, bears, a comb, bowl of mush, chairs, kitten, mouse, and mama rabbit). One can do a song to draw the children and to settle them down on there cushions/floor matt’s. The key about the puppet show is to insure the puppets look out towards the children; an educator is there simple to move them and to speak for them. Animated voices helps distinguish and develop personality for each of the puppets. The story can be shortened for the puppet show. The importance is to keep the magic alive throughout the whole puppet show. At the end a tune is usually hummed to single it is naptime and all the children head to their sleeping mats; however the puppet show can be done at any point during the day. How the duration of the puppet show goes is the first couple days the book is read; then for three weeks, everyday, the puppet show takes place; then the fourth week the children act it out by holding the puppets and saying the phrases. The educator can help the children out if a child has forgotten, but doing it throughout that last week allows the children to act out different characters five different times.
Extensions:
1) Pajama Day
a. Bring pajamas.
b. Favorite sleeping toy (blanket or stuff animal.
c. Favorite goodnight story.
d. Pillow case races (same as potato sake).
e. Make bunny masks.
f. Balloon activities (paper mashie and dancing balloon-turn on music and you can’t let the balloon touch the ground).
2) Making Mush
a. Baking day of all different kinds of mush!
3) Star Gazing
a. Field Trip to the Planetarium/Observatory.
b. Star crafts- to hang around classroom.
c. Telescope crafts.
d. Song-Twinkle Twinkle Little star.
4) Exploring Goodnight Rituals
a. Children share their own rituals.
b. Other stories around goodnight rituals.
c. Discussion around why people do goodnight rituals.
d. Role playing.
e. Song- Goodnight Rabbit
5) Noises
a. Making noisemakers.
b. Listening to diverse noises.
c. Form a marching band.
d. Nighttime noises vs. day time noises.
e. Read the story: Mortimer by Robert Munsch
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