The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown

The important thing about this review is to say this picture book is great.

Here and now, we say to Barnett and Jacoby: We SEE what you’ve done. You’ve paid tribute to a woman who changed picture books. Forever. You’ve acknowledged her queerness, telling readers she fell in love “with a woman called Michael / and a man called Pebble.” You’ve honored her words with references to such titles as Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, The Little Fur Family, and more. You’ve sat with her respect for child readers as thinking, feeling, whole beings, and you’ve invited us, your readers, and hers, to do the same. You’ve framed her conflict with a stuffy librarian as an epic, funny battle. Just like Brown’s texts, yours is quirky, show more and sweet, experimental, funny, and at times heartbreakingly gorgeous. And Jacoby channels Clement Hurd, and Leonard Weisgard, and Garth Williams, and so many other Brown collaborators—and yet? Jacoby remains herself. Just like Margaret Wise Brown was herself, her whole life long. Or her whole life short, really, right? Isn’t it a shame she died so young? At 42—as you document in this picture-book biography, this love letter to her life, and to her astonishing legacy to children’s literature. Honestly? We don’t know what more to say. But we guess we will say this: have a carrot. You’ve earned it. And so much more. The important thing is that you wrote this picture book—this picture book about Margaret Wise Brown.

A runaway success. (Picture book/biography. 5-adult)

-Kirkus Review show less

In this quirky biography, Barnett presents factual details about author Margaret Wise Brown's life, but also focuses more on some of the unusual things she did like keep a large number of rabbits as pets (and then use their furs to make coats after they died) and buying an entire cart worth of flowers for a party with her first paycheck as an author. A fairly large section of the book discusses Brown's 'feud' with New York Public Library's librarians who refused to put her book in their collection for years.

I'm really not sure how to feel about this book. Going into it and expecting a straightforward biography was definitely a mistake as this weird, sort of rambling story was off-putting as a result. If you go into it knowing that it show more will be unusual, that would probably help. A second reading for those of us in the first category might help as well.

It's certainly not going to be a book that would be helpful for a child writing a biographical report for school. But as something just to read, it's an interesting musing about what really matters in life (is it your date of birth or your fondness for skinny-dipping in the sea outside your door?) as well as a meta look at literature. The book often calls notice to its own page length as well as pointing out things like authors being real people who go grocery shopping just like everyone else.

In the end, I would recommend this book but with the caveat that it's not your typical biography. It's an interesting bit of meta-literature about what makes a good book as well as what components of daily living make a life. It's wandering, meandering look at Margaret Wise Brown that will appeal to child readers. show less

Wow, here is a book that, like Margaret herself and her work, respects the wandering, wondering mind of a child. A tribute that is gentle, loving and honest. Love how the last line circles back to the beginning, the earlier line “The important thing about Margaret Wise Brown is that she wrote books.” Captures her voice.

“Kids and art have the same job; they are trying to find out what the world means. A good book looks at the world from a kid’s level. They are the ideal readers of literary fiction.” I loved how Mac Barnett didn’t sell kids short. They can read, retain, and understand far more than we give them credit for. I so enjoyed his reading through his book The Important Thing About Margaret Wise Brown. I had liked it before I heard him read it--and understand why he wrote as he did (to honor Margaret’s style.) And he loved Margaret Wise Brown as that is what he was read growing up. When you feel the personal connection, you understand the author and their book so much more. I peg this might win some honor at ALA Midwinter this year. show more (Worth watching is his TED talk from a few years ago) show less

"Margaret Wise Brown lived for 42 years.
This book is 42 pages long.
You can't fit somebody's life into 42 pages, so I am just going to tell you some important things."

Margaret's life story as told by Mac Barnett is a meandering one, but it concludes, "The important thing about Margaret Wise Brown is that she wrote books."

In between, readers encounter Margaret's editor, Ursula Nordstrom; and visit the NYPL (and Patience and Fortitude, of course); and meet Anne Carroll Moore, who guarded the children's room at the NYPL and held sway over what books librarians bought for their libraries. ACM did not recommend Goodnight Moon for purchase, but Barnett doesn't have to say that Goodnight Moon prevailed.

See also: Miss Rumphius

I don't suppose my 5 star rating will get more ppl to read this book, but it does mean that I hope that everyone does. Not just everyone who works with or lives with children, but everyone.

"There are patterns in a life, and patterns in a story, but in real lives and good stories the patterns are hard to see... But sometimes you find a book that feels as strange as life does. These books feel true. These books are important."

This book is hard to describe. It is about the author Margaret Wise Brown, but it is not a biography. It’s about the fact that she wrote a book that was not liked by the main lady at the New York Public Library, but that it still exists in our modern lexicon because she believed that children deserved weird little books. This book was so unique. The way the author chose to do the book (one page for every year of MWB’s life, but not a chronology. It’s weird but fascinating all at one time.