A review by lfinkenkeller
In the Great Green Room: The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown by Amy Gary

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.