Margaret Wise Brown (1910 - 1952)

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The Dead Bird by Margaret Wise Brown, Remy Charlip (Illustrator)  

‘Finding a still warm but dead bird, a group of children give it a fitting burial and every day, until they forget, come again to the woods to sing to the dead bird and place fresh flowers on its grave. An excellent handling of the subject of death in which all young children have a natural interest.’ —BL.

Bumble Bee (Growing Tree) by Margaret Wise Brown, Victoria Raymond (Illustrator), Margaret Wise Brown

Sweet, fuzzy, round, and tumbly--the bee in Margaret Wise Brown's much loved poem is completely alive and lovable. Victoria Raymond's sculptured illustrations make him even more huggable and create a bright journey that little fingers will love to trace. Full color.

Another Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown, Christopher Raschka (Illustrator), Chris Raschka (Illustrator)

The companion title to Goodnight Moon creator Margaret Wise Brown's 1949 classic, The Important Book, was published for the first time in 1999, with wonderful illustrations by Caldecott Honor recipient Chris Raschka of Yo! Yes? "Yo, yes!" we say. Just as Brown's first volume distills the essence of everyday entities, this splendid rhyming picture book zeroes in on the most important things about being one, two, three, four, five, and six years old.

The important thing about being Four/ is that you are bigger than you were before..../ You can blink and think/ as quick as a wink./ You can open your eyes/ to a world of surprise.

Children love the process of reaching each new year's landmark, and this whimsical equivalent of a wall-notch height chart will thoroughly delight them. It is difficult to imagine the book without Raschka's wriggling, singing, flinging babies, toddlers, and kids of all colors, exquisitely crafted with vivacious brushstrokes and vibrant watercolors. He has also cleverly woven numbers into his illustrations--a five-pointed star behind the five-year-old, a pinwheel of six circles behind the six-year-old. The splashy modern artwork rejuvenates Brown's half-a-century-old rhymes, plants them squarely in 1999, and guarantees a future classic.  --Karin Snelson

Margaret Wise Brown   (1910 - 1952)

WRITER

Margaret Wise Brown -- Short Biography

Excerpt:

Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Even though she died over 45 years ago, her books still sell very well.

Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.

She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.

She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper...

Margaret Wise Brown -- Long Biography

Excerpt:

Before Margaret Wise Brown's arrival on the picture book publishing scene, fairytales and fables dominated the world of illustrated stories. But Margaret, or Brownie as her friends often called her, brought flair to writing for children that other authors have yet to match. Hundreds of stories and poems poured out this beautiful, dashing young woman whose social circle included the wealthy and famous, royalty and American aristocracy. The stunning green-eyed blonde who penned the future of children's literature was as fascinating a character as any pajama-clad talking bunny she created on paper...

Women in History -- Margaret Wise Brown

Excerpt:

Born on May 23, 1910, in Brooklyn, New York, Margaret Wise Brown was educated at Hollins College in Virginia, where she earned an undergraduate degree in 1932. After attending the Writers Laboratory of the Bureau of Educational Experiments (the forerunner of the Bank Street College of Education), she worked as an editor of children's books in New York City for publisher William R. Scott, who as a parent of a Bank Street nursery student had learned of her interest in writing children's books herself... 

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