Book description
An exceptional picture book biography of Margaret Wise Brown, the legendary author of Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, and other beloved children's classics, that's as groundbreaking as the icon herself was-from award-winning, bestselling author Mac Barnett and acclaimed illustrator Sarah Jacoby.
What is important about Margaret Wise Brown?
In forty-two…
Why read it?
2 authors picked The Important Thing about Margaret Wise Brown as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
I love this subversive, touching, and weird picture book biography about the author of Goodnight, Moon (and more than 100 other books). In 42 pages, Mac has managed to question the whole concept of biography and traditional notions about what children’s books (and all books) should be like—both sentiments reflected in Margaret life and work—while at the same time providing a perfect portrait of the aspects of the author’s life most relevant to her writing, and probing questions of censorship and tastemaking. Among other things, Mac shows young creators how to live in a celebratory manner even if the world…
From Jasmine's list on women writers and artists.
This book is deceptively simple with its lovely child-friendly language and illustrations featuring rabbits. Yet, the sophisticated questions it poses come right out of graduate programs in literary theory. Is it important to know about an author’s life? How does our knowledge of that life influence how we read an author’s books? Margaret Wise Brown’s life was unconventional, even scandalous, and not necessarily picture book appropriate. But Barnett captures the weirdness, the whimsey, and the beauty. He invites the child auditor to participate with a plethora of rhetorical questions that will give both children and adults lots to think and…
From Caroline's list on writers and the strange and magical things that inspired them.
If you love The Important Thing about Margaret Wise Brown...
Jane Addams
This biography for middle-grade readers and up explains who Jane Addams was and why she caused such a stir worldwide. The story follows Addams' first childhood realization of how poverty limits lives, livelihoods, and health to her becoming one of the most beloved―and disliked―women of her day. She worked to…
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