  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 09/01/2017 PreS-Gr 1—In this previously unpublished story, a lone bunny greets a new day and the people and animals he encounters in his rabbit community, and bids them good night that evening. After viewing the rising sun from atop a hill, the bunny delivers newspapers on his bike waving "good day" to everyone: to the birds, the bees, and his own kitty, urging them to "open [their] eyes/For every day/Is a new surprise." When day is done, he says good night to those same birds and bees, (there are charming close-ups of the snoozing birds and a young bee enjoying a bedtime story while others sleep on hive windowsills) as well as to flowers, bugs, the stuffed bear, and the kitty in his room, and "people everywhere." The rhyming text is brief and conveys the bunny's enthusiasm for life. Yet it is occasionally awkward as in "Good night, sky/And the daylight/Good night, flowers/Bugs, good night." Long's lovely acrylic paintings move from colorful spreads filled with details such as multiple rabbit dwellings, folks jogging or enjoying coffee and heading to work, to small scenes on white ground. A bakery named "Bonbunnyrie" and a milk company called "Harey Dairy" provide humor. The transition from day to night happens abruptly in both text and illustrations, moving from a soccer game in broad daylight to a scene of the bunny on his hill under the rising moon. VERDICT While this quiet story with its beautiful illustrations extends Good Night, Moon and is suitable for one-on-one sharing, its predecessor still shines brighter.—Marianne Saccardi, Children's Literature Consultant, Cambridge, MA - Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 09/15/2017 A small brown rabbit, dressed in blue shorts and a red-and-white striped shirt, hails the day as the sun rises. Leaving his hobbitlike home built into a hill, he embraces the day with enthusiasm. After greeting a nest of hungry birds and a hive of busy bees, he proclaims, “Good morning to you! / Open your eyes / For every day / Is a new surprise.” At the end of the sunny day filled with soccer, flower picking, and tending to his kitten, the bunny welcomes the night. He wishes a “Good night” to everything else that makes up his world. Illustrator Long pays homage to Clement Hurd’s original bedroom in Goodnight Moon: a roaring blaze in the fireplace, blue-and-white pj’s in polka dots instead of stripes, and a green-and-yellow bedspread instead of curtains, in addition to other seek-and-find elements that compare to the original. Halfway through, reader and listener might stop and discuss their day before returning to the soothing conclusion for a comforting bedtime experience. - Copyright 2017 Booklist. Loading...
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