Goodnight Moon – Memories of a Reading Collaboration

My daughter, Megan, who is now a twenty-year-old college sophomore, occasionally mentions a ritual from our past, the nightly reading of Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.

The reading was a collaborative effort.  In the early days I read aloud, while she, too young for words, did the work of pointing to Clement Hurd’s illustrations of things mentioned in the book, things like the kittens, the mittens, the socks, the clocks, and the three little bears sitting on chairs.

Although she had no speaking parts, she did come on stage to play the pivotal role of the little old woman whispering, “Hush.”  With wide eyes, she would place a finger to her lips and make the shhhhhhh sound.  It was a masterful performance that got me every time.

In time, we changed the act.  I would begin the lines, but she would finish them.  And just to create a little suspense, we would insert a dramatic pause between my part and hers.

“Goodnight cow jumping over the . . . ” I would say.

Then came the pause.  I would look at Megan.  She would look at me.

“Mooooon!” she would shout, breaking the silence with an explosion of enthusiasm.

We continued to mix things up.  She took on a larger role; I took on a smaller one, but in every performance, it was a shared collaboration, a piece that only came to life when performed by two people.

Eventually, it was I who placed my finger to my lips at just the right moment, emitting the eagerly awaited shhhhhhhhh.  Megan grew into the role of narrator, interacting with me and asking me to find the kittens, the mittens, the socks, the clocks, and the three little bears sitting on chairs.

Megan soon moved onto other things, taking on new roles and beginning her solo career, but I believe that some day she will revive the act, taking on a little partner of her own.  I only hope that now and then I can make a guest appearance and enjoy, once more, the thrill of being on that tiny stage, creating something beautiful.

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Tagged as: Adrift in the Cool and the Beautiful