The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown

Locations
Call Number: J 921 Brown, Margaret, Kids Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Artists & Writers / Brown, Margaret Wise
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Traverwood Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown Kids Books 4-week checkout	J 921 Brown, Margaret	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Artists & Writers / Brown, Margaret Wise	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Traverwood Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Artists & Writers / Brown, Margaret Wise	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Artists & Writers / Brown, Margaret Wise	4-week checkout	Due 05-16-2024
Westgate Kids Books 4-week checkout	Kids Book / Nonfiction / Biography / Artists & Writers / Brown, Margaret Wise	4-week checkout	Due 05-20-2024

A picture book biography of the children's book author shares insights into her life and enduring literary influence.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

School Library Journal Review
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Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Stunning Illustrations submitted by purplelily on June 16, 2019, 9:07pm I learned about Margaret's life, but was mostly amazed by the stunning illustrations!

The Important Thing submitted by valerieclaires on August 23, 2019, 11:51am Some people do not believe that strange things belong in children's books. Margaret Wise Brown was not one of them. Mac Barnett is not either.

This 42-page book (the same number of pages as years in Brown's life) features gorgeous illustrations by Sarah Jacoby, recalling some of the same gentle imagery in Brown's own books. Some of the stories in the book, which are all things that really did happen to Margaret, aren't your usual children's book fare. However, both Brown and Barnett believe that books for children should include things that really do happen to children or in real life, not just the happy things, and this is the true story of Margaret Wise Brown.

Pick this book up to find out more about the woman behind Goodnight Moon, stay to learn how hard she fought for good literature for children, keep reading for her personal story, pause to take in the gorgeous illustrations, and think about how sometimes life isn't perfect children's book fodder but is still beautiful and important in its own way.

Learned a lot submitted by Xris on January 25, 2022, 12:38am I didn’t know Margaret had written so many books! Or that a librarian didn’t like some of them. Very interesting life. :)

Complicated legacies submitted by Diananana on June 29, 2022, 12:10pm I sought out this book because I'm a fan of Margaret Wise Brown's books, especially The Runaway Bunny. On the 42 pages of The Important Thing about Margaret Wise Brown are simply told facts about Brown, accompanied by lovely illustrations. It also tells a number of things about Anne Carroll Moore, children's librarian at the New York Public Library. She is cast as a villain. In real life, Brown and Moore were both complicated individuals. The things said about Moore in this book are true. I cannot admire some of things she is known for, such as essentially censoring children's books. (She also rejected Pat the Bunny because it blurred the line between toys and books, and Laura Ingalls Wilder's books because she didn't like children's book series.) Yet, she did much to advance children's libraries and children's librarianship at a time when these concepts were just emerging. To learn more about this controversy, see Betsy Bird's article, "The Quintessential Librarian Stereotype: Wrestling With the Legacy of Anne Carroll Moore" on her blog Afuse8production (https://afuse8production.slj.com/2019/03/04/the-quintessential-librarian-stereotype-wrestling-with-the-legacy-of-anne-carroll-moore/)