I try to read to Claire every day but I must admit that I still feel a bit silly reading to an infant whose neverending drool threatens to soak the book with each turn of the page. And frankly, I find most books that are designed to be read to babies are…well, boring.
Oh how I cannot wait until I can start reading to her the Harry Potter and LOTR books, or even my favorite Shel Silverstein poems, and have her understand them! I am even eagerly awaiting the days when she will beg “One more chapter please?” as the clock creeps outrageously past her bedtime.
But I digress.
Margaret Wise Brown’s classic Goodnight Moon is one of the books I bought for Claire when I was still pregnant, determined to turn my future offspring into a bookworm just like her mom. I had actually never read the book myself, but I thought that it must be something amazing since every nursery seems to have a copy.
But when I read it for the first time, I couldn’t help but wonder why it is so popular. In fact, I believe the exact thought that came to mind was, “What is this crap?”
(I apologize to anyone who loves the book. I understand that it’s supposed to be a child‘s bedtime story, and as such, adults like myself may find it dull and uninteresting. Even Claire doesn’t seem to care for it much. Perhaps she will as she gets older?)
I couldn’t help but wonder if I would be more interested in the book if it contained subject matter that is more to my taste…
And today I was granted an answer.
Introducing Goodnight Dune, a mashup of Goodnight Moon and the David Lynch movie version of Dune:
Click on through for the rest.
And you know what? I find the new version much more interesting, and even fun.
I doubt that an actual book will be published due to copyright restrictions, but one can certainly dream, no?
Via Flavorwire.
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I didn’t understand the appeal of Goodnight Moon either until about two months ago when G started to point out all of the things in the room with glee. Hate the book all you want, but the first time your kid points at a page and exclaims “baoon!!” and then whispers hush right along with the little old lady, you’ll be hooked too.
That’s what I have heard — that once your baby gets old enough, they will start to point out the things in the book too. And I guess that’s why I keep reading it to her despite my finding it utterly boring. 🙂
Why not read books YOU’RE interested in, at least until she’s old enough to understand? That’s what my mom did for me when I was a baby, just read out loud from whatever book she happened to be reading at the time – mystery, scifi, political thriller, whatever. It got us in the reading at bedtime habit, got her used to reading out loud and me used to listening, and kept her from being bored to tears or turning her brain to mush. Once I was a little older, we switched to kids’ books. I’ve been a total bookworm my whole life, so I guess it worked pretty well. Just seems like right now the important point is to set up good reading habits, and for her to hear your animated voice every night, which seems unlikely if you’re bored with the book you’re reading to her.
I’ve actually been doing that since she was born. 🙂 I just happen to add in the children’s books too because babies like repetition and are comforted by it. Although starting now, I need to mix in more children’s books because she is becoming SO receptive and will learn faster through repetition, associate objects with certain words, etc..
Goodnight Dune is amazing. Thank you for sharing!
I also dislike Goodnight Moon..It was given to us as a gift..i find it dull..I bought Ainsley Goodnight God and LOVE that book! The pictures are very vibrant (she will flip through it even when i am not reading it to her) and the wording rhymes..She is just starting to appreciate the rhyming patterns..She seems to prefer the books that do..If you haven’t already get “Bee Bim Bop” Ainsley LOVES that book!!! She smiles the minute i start reading it but i think it has something to do with the rhyming..(and not the food..lol)
Thanks for the recs — I’ll be sure to check those books out!
Btw, your comment was the 5,000th comment on this blog! I always told myself that I should do something nice for the 5,000th commenter, so stay tuned!
LOL I gotta agree with you about “Good Night Moon”. My first impression was “wth? this book is retarded and every new mother has it, what a rip off”. Thankfully, I bought mine for a $1 at a used book store.
I really don’t like Goodnight Moon, and we own it, but I rarely read it to my son. It is so boring and creepy, and also I always want it to rhyme more than it does.
When my friends daughter was really little, she (the mom) easily tired of reading the same kiddie books over and over again. So, she started reading the Wall Street Journal to her every day instead! Now that Siri is 12, she is one of the smartest, brightest kids I know 🙂