Review by Booklist Review
A small brown rabbit, dressed in blue shorts and a red-and-white striped shirt, hails the day as the sun rises. Leaving his hobbitlike home built into a hill, he embraces the day with enthusiasm. After greeting a nest of hungry birds and a hive of busy bees, he proclaims, Good morning to you! / Open your eyes / For every day / Is a new surprise. At the end of the sunny day filled with soccer, flower picking, and tending to his kitten, the bunny welcomes the night. He wishes a Good night to everything else that makes up his world. Illustrator Long pays homage to Clement Hurd's original bedroom in Goodnight Moon: a roaring blaze in the fireplace, blue-and-white pj's in polka dots instead of stripes, and a green-and-yellow bedspread instead of curtains, in addition to other seek-and-find elements that compare to the original. Halfway through, reader and listener might stop and discuss their day before returning to the soothing conclusion for a comforting bedtime experience.--Owen, Maryann Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Created from two unpublished fragments written by Brown in 1950, this book seems slyly designed to answer the question, "What happened to that bunny from Goodnight, Moon?"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.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-In this previously unpublished story, a lone bunny greets a new day and the people and animals he encounters in his rabbit community, and bids them good night that evening.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 © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
A young bunny thoroughly greets the sunny day before bidding it good night when the moon comes up. Brown's newly published text features the soothing repetition of her more famous bedtime book, and Long's acrylic illustrations pay a softened homage to Clement Hurd's classic art. Unlikely to replace Goodnight Moon on nightstands, but the book's simple, patterned language will similarly appeal to very young listeners. (c) Copyright 2018. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A new potential classic just right for bedtime, on the 70th anniversary of Goodnight Moon. With a vintage palette that today's adults will likely recognize, this tale introduces readers to a lively bunny village nestled in green hills that surround an old oak tree. One bunny eagerly greets the sun as he begins his paper route and then joins a soccer game with friends. Busy neighbors deliver milk and sell pastries in the town. When at last evening approaches, residents return home, and lights blink on to shine into the hushed night. Muted acrylic illustrations portray these two tales of day and night, beginning with the endpapers. Each daytime scene has a nighttime twinespecially the detailed, full-village illustrationsto reassure apprehensive little ones concerned about the gathering dark at bedtime that all will be well during the night. Brown's spare verse will resonate with caregivers as a read-aloud, with its bouncy rhythm by day and calming lilt by night. Long provides additional depth with captivating spreads that feature numerous opportunities to add visual stories to the tale and small, charming vignettes that contribute to the classic look and feel. (One such makes the all-too-common mistake of depicting a beehive as a wasps' nest, this one with multiple doors, apartment-style.) With pleasing echoes of Brown's famous classic, including bookends of a cow jumping over a moon, this bedtime story will entice families back again and again. (Picture book. 2-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
