Summary
Margaret Wise Brown, the New York Times bestselling author of the perennial classics Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny, asks children to think deeply about the importance of everyday objects, from apples to spoons. With lyrical words and vivid illustrations by Caldecott winner Leonard Weisgard, The Important Book shows children just how important everyday objects can be.
What is the most important thing about a spoon? The fact that you can eat with it? What about an apple? Or a shoe? This book helps curious preschoolers notice important details about their everyday surroundings, like daisies are white, rain is wet, and a spoon is used for eating.
For the important thing about The Important Book is that the book resonates long after it's closed. What's most important about many familiar things--like rain and wind, apples and daisies--is suggested in rhythmic words and vivid pictures. "A perfect book. The text establishes a word game which tiny children will accept with glee," said Kirkus.
Chosen as a "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children" by the American National Education Association.
"Rekindles the sense of wonder we were born with. True poetry about perceiving the world around us."-- Mark Frauenfelder, BoingBoing magazine
Margaret Wise Brown was born on May 23, 1910 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, to Robert Brown, a Vice President at American Manufacturing Company and Maud Brown, a housewife. She attended school in Lausanne, Switzerland for three years, before attending Dana Hall in Wellesley, Massachusetts for two years. In 1928, she began taking classes at Hollis College in Virginia.
In 1935, Brown began working at the Bank Street Cooperative School for student teachers. Two years later, her writing career took off with the publication of "When the Wind Blows." Over the course of fourteen years, Brown wrote over one hundred picture books for children. Some of her best known titles include Goodnight Moon, Big Red Barn and Runaway Bunny.
Margaret Wise Brown died on November 13, 1952 of an embolism following an operation in Nice, France.
(Bowker Author Biography)
