My thoughts: As a children's picturebook biography, Only Margaret: A Story About Margaret Wise Brown is well done. We know "Margaret Wise Brown" as the author of a plethora of children's books and specifically Goodnight Moon - that much loved bedtime storybook.
When Margaret Brown began publishing children's books and stories, there were not that many authors, illustrators, and publishers of the genre. There was a need. There were some, true. There was not a large market, financially, for them, though. But Margaret Brown had difficulty finding her "place" in the world and what she wanted to do. She thought she liked to write but didn't like writing for adults, and didn't like "commas." So she began to explore words, the world, and thoughts and jotted them down on envelopes, and whatever. Soon she began writing short children's stories. A dream was the fuel for Goodnight Moon.
As a quirky individual, her life took her from place to place; and wherever she went, she discovered more ideas for her stories.
I am always a fan of entertaining non-fiction and particularly picturebook biographies for children. So Only Margaret was an exciting choice for me. There is a partial list of her works at the back of the book as well as a biographic timeline of her life.
Her life and relationships is not one that I can endorse with the exception of the children's books I have seen that she authored. The author of this biographic picturebook handled her relationship with care as is appropriate for children.
About the book: When Halley’s comet arrived in 1910, so did an extraordinary person: Margaret Wise Brown. Margaret had a boundless imagination and a gift for spinning stories. Most grown-ups thought children’s books were frivolous and silly, but Margaret didn’t agree. Could writing stories for children be important work—a incredible way to share truth, beauty, and wonder?
Other people might call Margaret strange, and sometimes her own worries and doubts felt overwhelming. But only Margaret and her original ideas could lead to Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, and other classics beloved by children around the world.
From smuggling rabbits onto trains, to scribbling stories about island whispers, Margaret embraced adventure in life and on the page. This whimsically illustrated biography shares how an independent, fun-loving woman became a trailblazing pioneer of the picture-book form.
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