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rgarvais's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
3.0
No criticism of Brown- very starry eyed. Great glimpse into the life of a cutting edge writer.
snowcitygirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
bmpicc's review against another edition
3.0
Such an interesting life that ended way too suddenly. She was not at all what I expected and for that, I'm glad. I enjoyed this.
retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
2.0
A gushing semi-biography of the author of Goodnight Moon and many other children's books. There is insufficient information about much of her life and way too much about her lovers and her celebrity friends. Sometimes there are sort of throw-away lines that make little sense, such as talking in one place about her poor grammar.... really? Disappointing. Would have appreciated a chronological list of all her published books.
meghan111's review against another edition
3.0
From the late 1930s to the early 1950s, Margaret Wise Brown wrote and published dozens of children's books, including [b: Goodnight Moon|32929|Goodnight Moon|Margaret Wise Brown|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439223893s/32929.jpg|1086867]. Also from the 1930s to the 1950s? The Great Depression. Hitler. World War II. And yet this historical biography seemed to me totally ahistorical, rarely mentioning larger events, and completely uninterested in interrogating privilege and wealth. It often seemed like a transcription of Margaret Wise Brown's journals with little to no interpretation. MWB's long love affair with poet and actress Michael Strange was one of the most interesting aspects. I also enjoyed the excerpts from her works and the random detail that at one point she completely decorated a small house in furs, since it had no heat.
lfinkenkeller's review against another edition
3.0
This is the first biography that I’ve read in a long time. I chose it because I was a former teacher and appreciated the work of Margaret Wise Brown. I love Goodnight, Moon. I didn’t realize that she wrote so many other things for children including magazine articles, textbooks, songs and poems. While I enjoyed reading about her interesting and flamboyant life, I really wanted to hear more about her writing. I wanted to know more about how she pioneered the way children’s books were written. You get a glimpse of it, but not enough to satisfy my curiosity. For example in the epilogue, Ms Gary says, “Her chosen epitaph, “Writer of Songs and Nonsense,” is carved into the stone. One might argue that her choice of words for the nonsense she wrote has transported generations of children into the timeless world of stories. She has lifted children from their own little worries into the life of bear or bee or bunny or into a bed surrounded by soothing green walls saying good night to the moon. Margaret’s simple wish to make children laugh, or to jog them with the unexpected and then to comfort them with their own familiar world, has come true millions of times.” This is what I was wanting to read, and I also wanted to know what children’s books were like before Margaret Wise Brown and how her books were different. However, I think my wishes wouldn’t necessarily be categorized, “Biography.” Overall, I liked the book.
amycrea's review against another edition
2.0
On the one hand, Brown's life was interesting. But the writing in this book--it's like the author used Brown's letters and diaries and just paraphrased things, accepting everything Brown said at face value. Gray doesn't seem to have done much in the line of research to validate things. And I would have loved more discussion about the iconic books, Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny.
elenats's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes an author’s personal life can ruin your enjoyment of their books, but this biography only made me love Margaret Wise Brown more.