About This Stamp
Written by Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952) with artwork by Clement Hurd (1908–1988), 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.
This pane of 16 stamps features eight details from the beloved picture book, including: the young bunny tucked into bed; the painting of three little bears; the toy house on the bedroom floor; the mittens and socks hung to dry; the tiny mouse paused for just a moment in front of the fireplace; the painting of the cow jumping over the Moon; the older bunny sitting in the rocking chair with her knitting; and the comb, brush, and bowl of mush atop the young bunny's bedside table. Each scene appears twice on the pane.
A celebration of the everyday, Goodnight Moon encourages children and their parents to imagine themselves in the book's familiar “great green room,” where a young bunny has been tucked into bed. The lilting, hypnotic rhythm of the text casts a tender spell over young listeners, who bid goodnight to everything they see in the book—from the toy house and kittens playing on the bedroom floor to wall paintings, a red balloon, and the Moon in the night sky. At first brightly lit, the bedroom grows gradually darker over the course of the book, echoing slumber's slow descent.
Published by Harper & Brothers in September 1947, Goodnight Moon sold an initial 6,000 copies, but sales soon dropped off. The book's remarkable rise in popularity began in the 1950s, in large part due to word of mouth among parents. In 1996, the New York Public Library, which did not add the book to its own collection until 1972, included Goodnight Moon on its “Books of the Century” list. Today, Goodnight Moon has sold a total of more than 48 million copies, placing it among the best-selling children's books of all time.
Art director Derry Noyes designed the pane using existing art by Clement Hurd.
The Goodnight Moon stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps. These Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail® one-ounce price.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Derry Noyes
For more than 40 years Derry Noyes has designed and provided art direction for close to 800 United States postage stamps and stamp products. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Hampshire College and a master of fine arts degree from Yale University.
Noyes worked as a graphics designer at Beveridge and Associates, a Washington, D.C., firm, until 1979 when she established her own design firm, Derry Noyes Graphics. Her clients have included museums, corporations, foundations, and architectural and educational institutions. Her work has been honored by American Illustration, the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, Communication Arts, Critique magazine, Graphis, Creativity International, and the Society of Illustrators.
Before becoming an art director for the U.S. Postal Service, she served as a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 1981 to 1983.
Noyes is a resident of Washington, D.C.