Bedtime Classics
Posted by Robyn Lee in Family on Friday, February 05, 2010 5:04 PM
What is the obsession with Goodnight Moon? I asked over twitter the other night.
I love the immediacy of the internet, because Pat Gohn chimed in with a response: “With G’d Nite Moon it’s all about cadence and happy normalcy. It observes & celebrates all the little things ... like kids do!”
Great answer! But I am still so amazed that this simple little book gets all the rave. I mean really? The same picture is on every page, the illustrations and colors aren’t very interesting. I don’t get it.
I learned of this obsession the other night while babysitting.
My sister Alison was going to bring all the kids to watch her oldest play basketball, but she was concerned that Seamus wouldn’t make it to the end without a melt down. The nice thing about living next door to my sister is that I am able to offer my help at times like this. I offered to put Seamus to bed while the rest of the family went to the game.
Luckily, Seamus didn’t need convincing to put on his pajamas and read books. We climbed the stairs to his room and dug through the pj drawer until he decided on the blue ones with the soccer ball.
We snuggled on the couch right before bedtime. Seamus picked out a small little book and I thought I’d have him to bed in no time, little did I know of the love of Goodnight Moon.
As I started to read, Seamus would direct me on the way to read it. “No, you have to say ‘Good night, mush.’” And I would read it again to meet his Goodnight Moon standards.
After he gazed silently at the page I thought it was safe to turn to the next one, but no, turn back! “My need to find the mittens. Where is ‘em?”
Who knew you could pore over the pages of Goodnight Moon? But we did. We read about the young mouse and the little house and we’d turn back to the colored pages to find them in the room.
It was such a treat to spend time with my little nephew as he would laugh at the three bears sitting on chairs (“see ‘em?”) and count them 1 … 2 … 3. I would smile at his curiosity and concern, “Where’s the moon?” if he couldn’t find both the moon out the window and the moon in the picture of the cow jumping over the moon.
My special time with Seamus was more than enough proof to explain the obsession, but I’m curious to hear more.
So, what’s the obsession with Goodnight Moon? Why do your kids love it so much?
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