This “page-turning biography” reveals the extraordinary life of the children’s book author behind Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny (BookPage). Millions of people around the world know Margaret Wise Brown through her classic works of children’s literature. But few know that she was equally remarkable for her business savvy, her thirst for adventure, and her vital role in a children’s book publishing revolution. Margaret used her whimsey and imagination to create stories that allowed girls to see themselves as equal to boys. And she spent days researching subjects, picking daisies, and observing nature, all in an effort to precisely capture a child’s sense of wonder as they discovered the world. Living extravagantly off her royalties, Margaret embraced life with passion and engaged in tempestuous love affairs with both men and women. Among her great loves was the gender-bending poet and ex-wife of John Barrymore who went by the pen name Michael Strange. She later became engaged to a younger man who was the son of a Rockefeller and a Carnegie. When she died unexpectedly at the age of forty-two, Margaret left behind a cache of unpublished work and a timeless collection of books. Drawing on newly-discovered personal letters and diaries, author Amy Gary reveals an intimate portrait of this creative genius whose unrivaled talent breathed new life in to the literary world.

This collection explores for the first time the importance of secret history in the literature of the long eighteenth century.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.