Brownie Anyone?

Brownie was Margaret Wise Brown's nickname. She was a dashing and energetic, pretty blonde with stunning green eyes. And she wrote a bazillion children's book. Her most popular book by far was Goodnight Moon. When she hit the literary world, kids literature consisted of only fairy tales and nursery rhymes. No one had ever taken her unique stance on kids books before. She believed that children would much rather read about other children who experienced similar problems or wonderlands from the real world - not stories of make believe princesses in far away castles.

"One can but hope to make a child laugh or feel clear and happy-headed as he follows the simple rhythm to its logical end. It can jog him with the unexpected and comfort him with the familiar, lift him for a few minutes from his own problems of shoelaces that won't tie, and busy parents and mysterious clock time, into the world of a bug or a bear or a bee or a boy living in the timeless world of a story."

When I was a child I vividly remember many Margaret Wise Brown books. Most notably I had a book called The Run Away Bunny.


I remember not really understanding the book very well. Margaret believed that often times fewer words are best for storytelling because children's imaginations could fill in the details with their own creations, leading to richer and more astonishing stories within stories. I don't know. I have my doubts about this theory. I mean, come on. I remember not getting the "Run Away Bunny" as a child because the basic concept of the story didn't make sense to me. Of course the little bunny shouldn't run away from home - how stupid. And I always thought it was frightening how the mother bunny would find the child no matter what! I think Margaret intended the kid to be comforted by the fact that mommy would do anything for her bunny. But I just found it creepy. That momma bunny turned herself into unnatural things just to catch the little bunny and drag him kicking and screaming back home? Not cool.

So, was Margaret a good storyteller or was she just lazy with her writing and left too much up to the kids to fill in?

I, of course, had to read more.

My mom shared with her kids a book she had gotten when she was a little girl. It was called The Golden Egg Book.

Talk about a gloriously illustrated book! It's a delight to just sit and look at. But the story itself? Atrocious! Awful! Not fit for printing! Just listen to this quote: "So the duck pushed the bunny with his foot / And jumped on top of him / And threw a little rock at him / And rolled him down a hill." Really? I mean, really?? Is that quality writing? I don't think so.

Here's another excerpt from Mister Dog: "And what did Crispian do with his dinner? / Did he put it in his stomach? / Yes, indeed. / He chewed it up and swallowed it into his fat stomach." How droll. Don't get me wrong. I realize that most of Margaret's stories date from the 40s, but I just expect more quality writing from her.

Her book, published under the pseudonym Golden MacDonald, entitled The Little Island won an award for its illustrations -- not it's writing. (One of the things I admire about Margaret was that she insisted that the illustrators of her stories receive the same royalties that she did. This was an unheard of concept in her time.)

Nevertheless Brownie wrote over 100 books in her lifetime. Surely one of them had to be good?

That's when I stumbled upon The Color Kittens. Here's one of my favorite lines: "The sky was wild with sunshine." Ahhhhh, now that's writing. Simple; direct; vivid; unforgettable. Perfect. And the story as a whole is a delight. It still has all the feel of a story from the 40s, but there's actual creativity and talent in this prose. Abby and I agree on a favorite part. Ready for it?

"The kittens fell asleep in the warm dark night with all their colors out of sight and as they slept they dreamed their dream - A wonderful dream of a red rose tree that turned all white when you counted to three...
one...TWO...THREE!"

And it's so fun to read. And, best of all, I can see Abby's eyes dancing with imagination as she pictures the world of the color kittens. Sigh. Love it.

You know, even if The Color Kittens were to disappear from Margaret's portfolio, I think I would still be mesmerized with her body of work. I can think of so many examples of her craft that is just complete bunk, but, taken as a whole, her work is quite interesting. And then, if you throw in her interesting life and the ground breaking achievements she made, Margaret Wise Brown was one damn fine author.