Good Night, Gorilla

Today marks the birthday of Peggy Rathmann. Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Peggy studied commercial art and crafted picture books at the Otis Parsons School of Design in Los Angeles. In 1991 she published her first book, Ruby the Copycat, and was immediately hailed by Publishers Weekly as a “Promising New Author.” Promising indeed. Within four years she would publish two books that have now achieved classic status: Officer Buckle and Gloria and our book of the day Good Night, Gorilla.

Bringing originality to preschool books is no mean feat. Because of the limited experience of the readers, preschool books often rely on formulas more than any other type of book. Stories, real stories, are rare. Hence Good Night, Gorilla excited everyone when it appeared—much in the way it still garners enthusiasm from young readers and parents.

In a story told in less than fifty words, a gorilla takes the zookeeper’s keys and lets the inhabitants of the zoo out of their cages. They follow him, only to be discovered and returned to the zoo—at least temporarily. The bright palette, engaging characters, and a satisfying story all have made this book one of the staples of any preschool collection, particularly for those who want a little livelier bedtime story than Goodnight Moon. But as spontaneous and lively as Peggy Rathmann made each page, she was a dedicated perfectionist in her art, going back and reshaping her books again and again. In the case of Good Night, Gorilla she labored to find an ideal ending. As she has said, “two years ten endings later” she had a picture book good enough for her to publish.

I myself owe Peggy Rathmann a personal debt of gratitude. As a young editor of The Horn Book Magazine, I wrote one of my first editorials about the Caldecott Award: “Could Randolph Caldecott Win the Caldecott Medal?” In a time period when high-art picture books were capturing this prize, I set forth my vision of picture books: one that embraced the lively interplay between text and art that Caldecott valued. Many took exception to my words. But when Peggy received the Caldecott Award for Officer Buckle and Gloria in 1996, she pulled me aside at ALA to tell me that she had tacked that editorial up on her bulletin board and had been grateful that someone understood the kind of book she was attempting to create. If in any way my words encouraged her to keep going on books like Good Night, Gorilla and Officer Buckle and Gloria, it was worth taking a stand.

In her creative career, Peggy Rathmann has fashioned a handful of books, all of them superb. Like Robert McCloskey she never aimed for quantity of output, only quality. So today from all of her many fans, I wish her a very happy birthday.

Here’s a page from Good Night, Gorilla: