Beloved bedtime story ‘Goodnight Moon’ to be celebrated May 2 on eight U.S. stamps

By Charles Snee

Clement Hurd’s charming illustrations for the 1947 bedtime story Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown will be featured on eight United States commemorative forever stamps to be issued May 2 in a pane of 16.

Each of the eight nondenominated (73¢) Goodnight Moon commemorative forever stamps is represented twice on the pane, as shown on the preliminary pane layout shown above. The central label on the pane features the cover of the picture book.

Because of the label’s position, it is impossible to remove a se-tenant (side-by-side) block of the eight stamps.

A first-day ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Central Daylight Time at the Rabbit Hole, 919 E. 14th Ave., in North Kansas City, Mo.

Thatcher Hurd, Clement Hurd’s son, will be one of the special guests at the ceremony. According to the USPS, Thatcher will share memories of his father and Margaret Wise Brown. He will also read Goodnight Moon aloud.

“As favorite bedtime reading for more than 75 years, Goodnight Moon allows children to imagine themselves in the cozy bedroom of a young bunny, saying good night to everything they see,” the Postal Service said in an April 3 press release. “This quiet, lullaby-like book also encourages children to look around their own rooms and, together with their parents, improvise on the comforting ritual in any way they would like.”

Collectors desiring to attend the ceremony are requested to register online with the U.S. Postal Service. Attendees are required to register individually, according to the USPS.

“The event features an unveiling and sale of the new stamps, a read-aloud of Goodnight Moon, and the opportunity to decorate and send your own postcard, design your own dream stamp, and much more,” the Postal Service said.

According to the Rabbit Hole website, the museum “celebrates and brings to life a century of American children’s literature for visitors of all ages.”

“The Rabbit hOle is the first museum of its kind in the United States,” the museum said. “Spanning three floors, the Rabbit hOle brings countless works of children’s literature to life. Visitors become explorers in an immersive, multi-sensory, narrative landscape filled with discoverable environments.”

“Goodnight Moon revolutionized children’s publishing when it debuted in 1947 and has since become favorite bedtime reading for millions of families around the world,” the Postal Service said in its announcement of the stamps in the March 20 issue of the Postal Bulletin. “The story allows children to imagine themselves in the cozy bedroom of a young bunny, saying goodnight to everything they see.”

The Postal Service’s preliminary artwork for the back of the pane, which shows a black-and-white image of the bedroom, is pictured above. “GOODNIGHT MOON” is lettered above the bedroom along with the closing words from the book: “Goodnight Stars / Goodnight Air / Goodnight noises everywhere.”

Derry Noyes, an art director for the USPS, designed the stamps using Hurd’s existing art.

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