GOOD DAY, GOOD NIGHT

A new potential classic just right for bedtime, on the 70th anniversary of Goodnight Moon.

With a vintage palette that today’s adults will likely recognize, this tale introduces readers to a lively bunny village nestled in green hills that surround an old oak tree. One bunny eagerly greets the sun as he begins his paper route and then joins a soccer game with friends. Busy neighbors deliver milk and sell pastries in the town. When at last evening approaches, residents return home, and lights blink on to shine into the hushed night. Muted acrylic illustrations portray these two tales of day and night, beginning with the endpapers. Each daytime scene has a nighttime twin—especially the detailed, full-village illustrations—to reassure apprehensive little ones concerned about the gathering dark at bedtime that all will be well during the night. Brown’s spare verse will resonate with caregivers as a read-aloud, with its bouncy rhythm by day and calming lilt by night. Long provides additional depth with captivating spreads that feature numerous opportunities to add visual stories to the tale and small, charming vignettes that contribute to the classic look and feel. (One such makes the all-too-common mistake of depicting a beehive as a wasps’ nest, this one with multiple doors, apartment-style.)

With pleasing echoes of Brown’s famous classic, including bookends of a cow jumping over a moon, this bedtime story will entice families back again and again