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Goodnight Songs are a set of previously unpublished lullabies by Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by twelve different illustrators.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. 

Red Wagon by Renata Liwska

"A winner" Kirkus Star review

A small wagon can be a wagon travelling to the wild west; or a small caravan; or a boat to ride the wild seas; or the carriage on a steam train; or even a space rocket! It's a long way to the market. Lucy has an errand to complete for her mother but along the way she sure has fun with all her friends. 

I went looking for books illustrated by Renata Liwska last week. I love her soft illustrations of toy-like animals such as the fox, hedgehog, squirrel, rabbit and raccoon.  I first saw her work in the book series The Quiet Book; The Loud Book and Once upon a memory.

The bonus with my discovery of Red Wagon is finding another delightful book for very young children about the power of imaginative play. I was also delighted to discover Renata lives in Canada - in Calgary. She was born in Poland. Here are some of her illustrations. In this interview she talks about her technique. One more thing - the last Wednesday in March is National Red Wagon Day! In 2021 the date will be 31st March.  I need to find some more books about little red wagons and imaginative play. You can read about their history here.

I discovered some other titles illustrated by Renata Liwska:

The Loud Book! by Deborah Underwood illustrated by Renata Liwska

Tuesday Treasure

Books sometimes come in pairs

Here we have The Loud Book! and the companion volume The Quiet Book! (There is also a Christmas one).

I have talked about The Quiet Book in a previous post (2011). The Loud book is another title which has recently been weeded (culled) from my former library. This book is such a treasure to share with a child. As with the Quiet Book, this story follows the little toy animals through their day. But this day is noisy!  Breakfast is a loud slurp, at school a fire truck arrives, then your team score a home run and bang, a ball crashes into the classroom window.  My favourite 'loud' is "candy wrapper loud" at the movies. Actually it is NOT my favourite loud. Movies should be quiet places. Another funny moment comes when the bird spills his marbles all over the library floor which I assume is not carpet. There are good loud noises too - such as the bowling alley winner and Aunt Tillie's banjo. Kirkus explains the noises we find in this book:

Written with the same grace and economy, 

the short glimpses of “louds” range from 

good to bad and every clanging in between.

Here is an interview with Deborah Underwood.  I was excited to see she mentions The Mousehole Cat illustrated by Nicola Bayley - another favourite book of mine.  You can see a full list of books by Canadian author Deborah Underwood here.

Back to The Loud Book!  This book is so loud - think about that. It is a book. It consists of words printed on a page and gorgeous, fuzzy illustrations (look at Renata Liwska's web site) but every reader will recognise the 'loud' in each scene. You don't need a loud voice to read this book but you do need time to sit and explore and talk about each event.

I have just made a wonderful discovery.  You can buy, in the US, the little characters from this series.

If you like the idea of exploring books in pairs here are some others you might look for in a library:

The Important book by Margaret Wise Brown and the companion volume Another Important Book.

Zoom by Istvan Banyai and the companion volume Re-Zoom.

We are best friends by Aliki and the companion volume Best Friends together again!

The Midnight Gang by Margaret Wild and the companion volume The Midnight Feast

I am sure you can think of other book pairs.  This might be an interesting theme or topic for a Kindergarten or preschool group to explore.

Once upon a memory by Nina Laden illustrated by Renata Liwska

The text and illustrations in this exquisite book Once Upon a Memory make this a book you will not want to miss.

I have talked about the gentle art of Renata Liwska in a previous post.  You can see more of her special work in this Pinterest collection.

I am going to quote some of the words in the hope you will want to rush out and open the pages. This book would be a perfect present for a Grandparent to give to a young child.

Does a feather remember it once was ...
a bird?
Does a book remember it once was ...
a word?
Does a chair remember it once was ...
a tree?
Does a garden remember it once was ...
a pea?


Does love remember it once was ...
new?
Does a family remember it once was ...
two?
Does the world remember it once was ...
wild?
Will you remember you once were ...
a child?

On the last page of this important book there is a long list of memories to discuss.  I recently made a memory page for my 'fridge door.  This was easy to compose and gives me a smile each morning. Memory can be a fragile thing.  Why not take a few minutes to talk to your family about the important and even small memories that are too precious to loose?  I wish I had taken time to do this with my little grandmother and more recently with my own mum.  You might also like to read Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge and  this star review in Kirkus.

The Quiet Book by Deborah Underwood illustrated by Renata Liwska

A few months ago a friend, who is also a bookseller, told me about The Quiet Book. The title only partly tells you about this special book. Inside it is truly magical.

It is a series of little scenes from early morning until late at night showing all the times we experience quiet and all the ways we experience it too.

Here are some :

Coloring in the lines quiet

Last one to get picked up from school quiet

Making a wish quiet

Best friends don’t need to talk quiet

Before the concert starts quiet

Story time quiet

Bedtime kiss quiet

“What flashlight?” quiet

Sound asleep quiet

The illustrations depict quirky little animals like bears, a porcupine, moose and rabbit all done in soft brown and grey tones with an occasional tiny touch of colour.

This book would make wonderful gift for a young child and it is a perfect book to share with that same young child either quietly or with some gentle conversation about each scene.

Stylish, funny, yet sympathetic, this should be a popular bedtime book. Quill and Quire

It is in our school library along with the companion volume The Loud Book. You might also enjoy The Important book and Another Important book by Margaret Wise Brown and If you listen by Charlotte Zolotow.