Goodnight Songs by Margaret Wise Brown

Goodnight Songs are a set of previously unpublished lullabies by Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by twelve different illustrators. I knew six of the names and six I needed to investigate.  You already know I do enjoy books like this that bring together the work of different illustrators. 

Jonathan Bean; Carin Berger; Sophie Blackall; Linda Bleck; Renata Liwska; Christopher Silas Neal; Zachariah O'Hora; Eric Puybaret; Sean Qualls; Isabel Roxas; Melissa Sweet; and Dan Yaccarino. The cover illustration is by Isabel Roxas. You can see more of her books here. My fabourite pages are the ones by Eric Puybaret (from France) and Sophie Blackall.

Melissa Sweet

Watch this video to see and hear some of the illustrators and learn more about how this book came to be discovered and published. 

Listen to a two-minute audio sample here of the first lullaby - The Noon Balloon. There are links here to all of the songs (but this site does have advertisements). You can see all the pages from Goodnight Songs here. 

As for the poetry, it feels wonderfully, authentically Margaret Wise Brown. Though full of fanciful ideas and imagery, Brown’s work never gets to be “too much” for kids to digest. Her specialty has always been simple words and phrases, rocking repetition, and a youthful perspective—a kid’s-eye view, so to speak. These new poems are no different and employ the familiar language and lilt of her classics. Barnes and Noble

"One can hope to make a child laugh or feel clear and happy-headed as he follows the simple rhythm to its logical end. It can jog him with the unexpected and comfort him with the familiar, lift him for a few minutes from his own problems of shoelaces that won't tie, and busy parents and mysterious clock time, into the world of a bug or a bear or a bee or a boy living in the timeless world of a story." Margaret Wise Brown

Goodnight Songs was published in 2014 so it is now sadly out of print but if you can find a copy and you have a music teacher in your school you should share this book which comes with a CD so you can hear and sing each of the twelve lullabies. 

One Starry Night by Lauren Thompson illustrated by Jonathan Bean

This book has a minimal text perfect for sharing with a young child, but the standout features are the wonderful illustrations which I am sure are quite different from other Christmas books you might be sharing this season. 

The text has two parts - it reads like a conversation: One starry night a sheep watched over her lamb, a cow watched over her calf, a nanny goat watched over her kid, a pig watched over her piglet, a cat watched over her kitten, a dog watched over her pup, a donkey watched over her foal, a dove watched over her doveling. 

"On this starry night Mary and Joseph watched over their newborn babe and the world was filled with love."

On each page there is text in an italics font: I am here always near never far wherever you are caring for you whatever you do day and night my love is bright beloved one God's will be done Amen

This year for my Christmas posts I am focusing on older books (all of which are sure to be out of print sadly). Hopefully one or two might be in your local or school library.

Bookseller blurb: One starry night, a cow watches over her calf, a nanny goat watches over her kid, and a pig watches over her piglet. For this one moment, every family in the animal kingdom is peaceful, just like Mary and Joseph watching over their own newborn nearby. This simple yet profound book perfectly captures the universal nighttime vigil of parents everywhere while gently alluding to the presence of a nurturing creator who watches overall. Lauren Thompson is at her lyrical best, while Jonathan Bean's gorgeous, artisanal illustrations are the perfect match for this beautifully serene story of a truly Peaceable Kingdom.

“This arresting story of the first Christmas has a succinct, powerful, rhyming text and striking illustrations unlike any other version of the Nativity story, with art and words perfectly matched in an artistic tour de force. This unforgettable interpretation stands out as a bright, multifaceted star in the crowded constellation of Christmas Eve stories.” –Kirkus reviews (starred)

“This tender, poetic retelling of the age-old story takes the form of a whispered prayer as it highlights the nurturing given to babies of many species. The art and the words strike just the right tone of reverence and delight. A lovely offering.” —School Library Journal (starred)

"In Thompson’s poetic, reverent text, two voices tell of the night Jesus was born. This peaceful ode to parental love is just right for bedtime reading. Bean’s digitally colored pencil illustrations portray the calm nighttime scenes in black, beige, dark gray-blue, and a sprinkling of white. The gentle words are beautifully matched by the strikingly composed art; both are infused with meaning and are powerful in their simplicity." --The Horn Book

Here is another book by Lauren Thompson with art by Jonathan Bean

I also adored this book by Lauren Thompson:

Polar Bear Night

Bad Bye, Good Bye by Deborah Underwood illustrated by Jonathan Bean

 

There is so little text in this book (which sadly is long out of print) that you and your young reading companion will need to pour over the illustrations and along the way you are are also sure to have a terrific discussion about just what is going on here as we watch the family pack up their old home, the moving truck is loaded and the family and their dog drive off down the highway. It is such a long journey filled with emotions - bad at the beginning as the young child is so upset about having to move and wonderful at the end as he finds a new friend and a promise of happy days to come. The journey is also a long one - we see the family have to stop at a motel and spend the night. Luckily on this very hot day, the motel has a wonderful cool swimming pool. So this is a book about change and moving house and the ups and downs of life.

In only the briefest of rhyming couplets, Underwood paints a clear picture of the fear of moving and the emotional upheaval for children.  In their long drive though, the mood shifts to one of possibilities rather than grief.  Even the journey itself is a form of coping and healing that makes the happy ending feel like a natural result of the entire process. Waking Brain Cells

This is a useful depiction of a family’s physical move, but the strength is in the emotional journey that’s expressed with a raw honesty. Kirkus

Here is some of the text:

Bad day

Bad box

Bad mop

Bad blocks

Take a minute to click this link and read this full review by Betsy Bird from the School Library Journal:

Every day someone somewhere packs up all their worldly possessions, their pets, and their miserable offspring and heads for a whole new life. It’s daunting. You can’t help but admire their guts. And boy, you’d sure like to hand them a book that they could use to show their kids that as scary as a move like that can be, ultimately it’s going to be okay. Enter a book so sparse and spare you’d never believe it capable of the depth of feeling within its pages. School Library Journal

I also have a Pinterest of Picture books about moving to a new house or moving a new country. The perfect book companion would be:

I talked about another books about houses illustrated by Jonathan Bean in a previous post:

Building our House

I picked up Bad Bye, Good Bye because I do love books by Deborah Undewood:

The Quiet Book

Finding Kindness

Outside In

Building our house by Jonathan Bean

Building our house is a wonderful picture book written from the heart and based on the family life of the author/illustrator.

Mum, Dad and the two children move from the city and begin the adventure of building a new house way out in the country - building the whole house themselves from scratch.  We watch as Dad hammers in four posts.

"On a clear, cold night Dad sets the corners of the foundation by the North Star.  One wall will face north to ward off the wind, one east to welcome the morning, one south to soak in the sun, and one west to see out the day."

I love all the little details in the illustrations.  You will see a white cat join the family and as time goes on she has a litter of kittens.  Towards the end mum is visibly pregnant and then we see her holding a little baby on their new veranda.  I also love the way mum is wearing glasses.  It is interesting that we don't see characters wearing glasses very often in picture books.

Along with the family the other character in this book is the weather and seasons.  Jonathan Bean does a brilliant job to show the warm summer days with the children splashing in a little paddling pool.  After the community and family come for a splendid day to raise the house frame you can see the autumn leaves changing colour in the background.  Then as the house is almost complete the rain, wind and winter snows arrive.

I have two favourite pages in this book.  There is a double spread showing the floor plan for the house complete with pencil shavings, nails and a hammer along with a set of paint colour cards and a steaming cup of coffee.  I also love the final scene where the family (now with three children) are sitting together on the lounge, mum and the baby are asleep and dad is reading a story to the little girl.  "Once the moving is done everyone goes back to their homes, but my family stays right where we are.  It's our very first night in our new home."   I am sure you have noticed the word HOME! Yes they built a HOUSE but now it is their home.

Everything about this book is special.  It will be enjoyed by children of all ages and by their parents too. Here is the author web site.  Take the time to look at some of his terrific illustrations.  If I have not convinced you to read this book then take a look at this review.  Here is an interview with the author - he looks so young!