Sloppy, stale, or simply brilliant

I don't remember having the book Goodnight Moon read to me as a child. However, having a little lady around who is closing in on two years has given me ample opportuity to read, listen to, and critique this classic piece of american children's literature. I have to say that during my first read, the page pictured above threw me for quite a loop. I cannot recall, but i would not be at all surprised if my jaw were left hanging just inches above the floor in the same manner as i find it after a typical episode of Breaking Bad... but i digress.

Initially, i had made up my mind that this page was the result of either A.) The author, margaret wise brown's imagination had run dry and she could think of no other things to say goodnight to, or B.) The illustrator, clement hurd had missed a deadline leaving the book a page short forcing brown, in all of her sheer brilliance, to adjust the text accordingly. Either way, this page had to have come into existence by pure chance due to the shortcomings of someone involved in its composition. Never did it occur to me that hidden among the mush and mittens of this beloved poem was a profound statement which had been placed very intentionally for minds both young and olde to ponder. With every subsequent read, i am left increasingly bewildered as this arguably blank page with her bold typeface existential statement aggravate my soul and haunt my subconscious.

As this is the case, i was once again left with this phrase camping out in the back of my mind following another visit to the great green room. Immediately, as any decent hipster living in the twenty first century would do, i tweetered these two merciless words as they burrowed deeper and deeper into the recesses of my cerebral cortex.

@hlaveta: Goodnight nobody.

Soon after, an olde friend named mike made me aware of the fact that in a sixtieth anniversary reprint of the book, a photo of her illustrator was doctored to remove a cigarette from between his fingers.

Here now was my response:

Mr. redelman, i am quite impressed by your historical insights regarding the renowned, if not controversial illustrator, clement hurd. After some treacherous research - aka googling his name - i stumbled upon the photo in question. While harper-collins' efforts at removing the cigarette from mr. hurds fingers may have prevented hundreds upon thousands of children from taking up smoking, they neglected to realize that their alteration of the photo now depicted a man who appears to have just picked his nose and is unsure of what to do with his findings.

We have harper-collins to blame for generations of children who are tragically addicted to picking their noses.

Shame on you, harper-collins.

Shame.