Margaret Wise Brown’s Moon Shines Down to Release November 2008
New Children’s Story Book Penned by Author of Goodnight Moon
(Nashville, Tenn.) Millions of children have been lulled to sleep by one of Margaret Wise Brown’s bedtime classics such as Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Wise Brown published more than 100 children’s titles during her career, with more than 20 million titles sold. But the prolific author died unexpectedly in 1952 (at age 42), and many of her unpublished manuscripts, handwritten on onionskin paper, were placed in a cedar trunk where they remained undisturbed in an attic for decades. Though the original manuscripts yellowed through the years, Thomas Nelson is reviving one of Wise Brown’s forgotten stories and combining it with illustrations from Linda Bleck. Margaret Wise Brown’s Moon Shines Down will publish for the first time in November 2008 ($16.99, hard cover, 48 pages, ISBN #: 978-1-4003-1299-3).
Wise Brown based the Moon Shines Down text on the classic New England Sampler prayer, “God Bless the Moon and God Bless Me.” The author’s unique poetic style and original wording yield a rhyming tale that will remind readers of Goodnight Moon’s lullaby rhythm and moon motif. Indeed, Wise Brown often wove themes from one book into the text or illustration of another, and this new classic continues that tradition. The rhyming text calls for God’s blessing on all the world’s children as a brilliantly glowing moon shines over each one.
I see the Moon and the Moon sees me
As it sees the children across the sea
In Australia and Norway and Italy
Africa, Japan, and Germany
Moon Shines Down is enhanced by Linda Bleck’s colorful illustrations, which are reflective of Clement Hurd’s timeless illustrations for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Bleck is an award-winning illustrator with more than a dozen books for children to her credit. Illustrations were especially important to Wise Brown, who often urged her illustrators to draw the way children wanted to see, rather than the way the artist wanted to draw things.
Thomas Nelson will support the release of Moon Shines Down with a full marketing campaign including targeted advertising, extensive review copy mailings and a national publicity campaign.
As one of the pioneers of modern children’s literature, Brown often rushed for her pen as soon as she got awoke to write down the tales she had dreamed before they could be forgotten. But Wise Brown probably wouldn’t have dreamed that her words would continue to delight generations of children more than five decades after her lifetime of success.
Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952) wrote hundreds of children’s books, poems, and stories during her life. At the peak of her career, she had over 100 books in print. She is best known for Good Night Moon and Runaway Bunny, which are still among the world’s bestselling children’s books. Margaret tried to write how a child would want to hear a story, which often isn’t the same way an adult would tell a story.
Contact: Jacklyn Johnston
Publicist
Tel: (615) 902-1722
Fax: (615) 902-2219
E-mail: jjohnston@thomasnelson.com
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