Margaret Wise Brown

I was browsing in Barnes and Noble with a friend, looking at the Easter display in the children's section, when she exclaimed, "OH!  I had this book when I was little.  I loved it." and she hugged it to her chest.  I picked it up and leafed through it and it was adorable.  Then I noticed the author, Margaret Wise Brown. 

I had no idea the author of Goodnight Moon was such a prolific writer.  We love Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny.  And The Big Red Barn is one of my all-time favorite books.  We've also bought The Train to Timbucktoo. 

I love classic/retro books.  Of course, some are too wordy or the pictures are too dull for my 21st century kiddos to enjoy.  But many of Brown's books are not like that.  Illustrated by different authors, the pictures certainly evoke different feelings but the overall cadence and almost-rhyming nature of most of her books draw my kids and I both in, making reading it over and over again an actually enjoyable experience.  Heading to Amazon now!