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.

Reviews

Over the course of a day, Little Bunny puts his long ears to good use and discovers a world full of sounds--birds chirping, bees buzzing--some of them (a sneeze, a stretch) of his own making. Brown's (Goodnight Moon) posthumous text reads more like a draft than a finished product, but there is still plenty here to draw in a young audience: the comforting brevity and gentle rhythm of the prose ("He raised his ears without opening his eyes. He heard all the little quiet noises starting the morning around him"); rhetorical questions after each sound is introduced ("What was that? Yes. It was a bumblebee. Two bumblebees"); and a close-of-day wrap-up that radiates a snugly warmth. McCue (The Perfect Christmas Gift) renders nature in the aesthetic tradition of vintage Golden Books. The colors of nature have a sweet, luminescent quality, like light shining through translucent candy, and the animals' eyes sparkle with vitality. Ages 3-7. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

PreS-K-Brown's exemplary tale of an inquisitive bunny exploring his world is just right for sharing. The young animal awakens to quiet morning sounds such as fluttering, chirping, "Cock Cock Cock-a-doodle Doo," and "bzzzzzzzz," and then identifies them, asking readers, "What was that?" Then the focus shifts from recognizing noises to making them, such as munching, scratching, and sneezing. As the sun goes down, "the little noises of the night" alert the protagonist that it is time "for little bunnies to be safe in their hole." McCue's brightly colored, detailed illustrations depicting a warm spring day from sunup to sundown are eye-catching and engaging; one can smell the lilacs, feel the sunshine, and thrill to the fireflies' glow at dusk. The affectionate paintings reveal the idyllic life of a carefree rabbit delighting in the woods and fields near his home, populated by numerous animals and insects. This joyful adventure will work well as a lap-sit or storytime selection.-Maryann H. Owen, Racine Public Library, WI Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.