Good Day, Good Night

Created from two unpublished fragments written by Brown in 1950, this book seems slyly designed to answer the question, "What happened to that bunny from Goodnight, Moon?" This bunny has brown fur and is older and more independent. Long's velvety, energetic acrylics follow him from sunup to nightfall: he zooms around town on his bike delivering newspapers, cares for his pet kitten, and plays soccer with pals. While a connection to Goodnight, Moon is never made explicit, it's there for anyone who wants to see it: there's that lilting, compact language ("Good morning to you!/ Open your eyes/ For every day/ Is a new surprise") and, at day's end, the rabbit retires to a bedroom in an underground burrow that features familiar visual cues, including a fireplace, red windows, and a rocking chair in the corner. Whatever the original intent behind the texts that make up this story, it's comforting to imagine that the bunny so many know and love could have turned out to be such a sturdy and confident fellow. Ages 4-8. Illustrator's agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)

PreS-Gr 1--In this previously unpublished story, a lone bunny greets a new day and the people and animals he encounters in his rabbit community, and bids them good night that evening. After viewing the rising sun from atop a hill, the bunny delivers newspapers on his bike waving "good day" to everyone: to the birds, the bees, and his own kitty, urging them to "open [their] eyes/For every day/Is a new surprise." When day is done, he says good night to those same birds and bees, (there are charming close-ups of the snoozing birds and a young bee enjoying a bedtime story while others sleep on hive windowsills) as well as to flowers, bugs, the stuffed bear, and the kitty in his room, and "people everywhere." The rhyming text is brief and conveys the bunny's enthusiasm for life. Yet it is occasionally awkward as in "Good night, sky/And the daylight/Good night, flowers/Bugs, good night." Long's lovely acrylic paintings move from colorful spreads filled with details such as multiple rabbit dwellings, folks jogging or enjoying coffee and heading to work, to small scenes on white ground. A bakery named "Bonbunnyrie" and a milk company called "Harey Dairy" provide humor. The transition from day to night happens abruptly in both text and illustrations, moving from a soccer game in broad daylight to a scene of the bunny on his hill under the rising moon. VERDICT While this quiet story with its beautiful illustrations extends Good Night, Moon and is suitable for one-on-one sharing, its predecessor still shines brighter.--Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA