Goodnight Songs: A Celebration of the Seasons by Margaret Wise Brown

Goodnight Songs: A Celebration of the Seasons by Margaret Wise Brown
Copyright 2015 (published in August)
Book and CD - Sterling Children's Books/Ages 3-6
36 pp. 

I read and reviewed the first volume of Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Songs (also including a music CD) in March of 2014 and enjoyed it enough to jump right on the offer to read and review a second volume, this time with focus on the seasons.

Last time, I read the book before popping in the CD. This time, I decided it would be better to pop the CD in and read along, enjoying the book and music together, as they were intended.

As with the first book, Goodnight Songs: A Celebration of the Seasons contains Margaret Wise Brown's lullabies illustrated by a number of different artists. So, each spread is an entirely different experience. Of course, my favorite illustrations were the two with cats in them, but I really do love the diversity of artistic styles. Musically, I only had one complaint. There was a single song with the kind of "easy listening" style in which the instrumentals made me think of elevator music -- or, maybe something you'd hear in a shopping mall. I don't know what exactly it was about that particular song that made me bristle, but fortunately the rest were lovely.

Recommended - When my kids were small, we had quite a little pile of books on cassette. Some of them were books with music, some were just stories. My children (particularly the eldest) loved being able to play those books repeatedly on their own and Eldest continued to play them when he became old enough to read along. So, I wouldn't limit the reading audience to 3-6 years of age. Youngsters who enjoy music and early readers would love to be able to play this kind of book without Mom's help, long after they've figured out when to turn the pages. The music CD may also be great on its own for relaxing, since the songs have a gentleness that's perfect for nap time.

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