For Albert Clarke, the Rise of 'Goodnight Moon' Is No Storybook Romance (2000)

Original source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB968365456431553434

I'm not sure anyone can explain it. Author Aimee Bender:

"What a surprise, then, to find that there is a blank page with 'Goodnight nobody' out of nowhere, sharing a spread with 'Goodnight mush.' [...] 'Goodnight nobody' is an author's inspired moment that is inexplicable and moving and creates an unknown that lingers. [...] I feel sure I will never crack open the meaning of 'Goodnight nobody,' and moments like that make rereading a genuine joy."

https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/19/what-writer...

But for what it's worth, I think it's there for a simple reason: to reassure children that there is nobody else in the room, nobody else to fear.

For me, the primary takeaway from this article is the absurdity of copyright lifetimes that keep a book published in 1947 out of the public domain, printing money for people who had no part in creating it.

A somewhat different bedtime story is, of course, Go the Fuck to Sleep. Most entertaining is when it is read by Samuel L Jackson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Udj-o2m39NA

This book came too late for me and my kids ... maybe someday I'll get a chance to read it to my grandchildren?

She goes on to show that she (in my estimation) definitely gets it, even if is difficult to articulate what it's about:

"How wonderful that this oddly compassionate moment, where even nobody gets a good night, shows up in the picture book that is the most popular! There is no template, ever. When writing, how do we allow those moments of impulse, of surprise? How do we not censor that kind of leap?"

She won't crack open the meaning, and that's fine. "Goodnight nobody" is a passage that's more koan than clarity, and that's exactly what makes it such a genius little nugget to see in a book written for toddlers.