Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody, by Michael Rex -- A Book Review (Modified Goodnight Moon)

While some children are terrified by monsters, others are completely fascinated by them. This latter group has few books to enjoy in the world of children’s literature – or so author Michael Rex must have thought when he came up with the concept for Goonight Goon: A Petrifying Parody. On the back flap of this book, Michael Rex informs the world that he loved Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon, but that its one drawback was its severe lack of big-toothed monsters and small creatures in peril.

My son is at an age where monsters are just wonderful, and he loves them to no end – but some are just scary. I really wasn’t sure whether the denizens of Goodnight Goon would qualify as fascinating or scary, so I decided to check this book out at the library to take it for a test drive with my son before putting any money out on it.

About the Book

As you can probably guess from the title, Goodnight Goon is a little parody of the best-selling children’s book, Goodnight Moon. The story line is nearly identical, though modified to allow room for the various scary creatures. Our story begins in the bedchamber of a little kid that is preparing to go to sleep – that is, a rather castle-esque bedchamber, and the child looks like a werewolf. Rather than simply telling everything in the room goodnight, its goodnight comes in the form of a small goon that leaps through the window to antagonize or destroy the item in question. Eventually, the kid orders the goon under the bed, and everyone can finally settle down for a peaceful night’s sleep. Thus ends the story.

The Reviewer’s Experience

As you might expect for a book aimed at the 2- to 4-year-old age range, the pictures really make the story in this book. The colors are gloomy, and each picture is very detailed and well-done. Each character is sufficiently slimy, sporting large protruding teeth, and “terrifying” grimaces. It ended up being a little too scary for my son, who was three years old at the time. While this doesn’t happen often, we’ll occasionally encounter something that just hits him the wrong way and he refuses to have anything to do with it. In short, if you’re not certain about your child’s reaction to potentially scary pictures, you may want to have them look at the book before you purchase.

On the other hand, though he initially disliked it, now that my son is five years old he is completely enamored of anything “scary” and every monster is awesome. Just recently I tried re-exposing him to Goodnight Goon, and he’d completely forgotten his earlier encounter with the book and now really loves it. He says it’s just as good as The Dragon’s Cold now, and wants it read to him at least once a week. Needless to say, I have recently made this purchase – for some kids, it may just be rated for a little bit younger than the truly interested age group.

Probably the primary apparent flaw in this book is that the text it parodies was tailored for very small children, but the characters may be scary for some small children. It is a really cute Halloween-type book, but it’s a pretty limited audience within the suggested age group. However, it may be appealing for early readers around the 5- to 7-year-old age range that have an interest in monsters. Otherwise, the text may be just plain too juvenile for reading aloud to children by the time they are no longer afraid of what they see printed on a page.

Final Thoughts

Goodnight Goon has some great illustrations and rhymes, but just be aware of what is liable to catch your child’s interest, and what is more likely to give them nightmares. At three years old, my son loved Where the Wild Things Are and monsters similar to those, but just didn’t like these until nearly two years later. Any child who has had more exposure to “scary” monsters (most likely those with older siblings) may love it. If you know this is something your child won’t be afraid of, then definitely buy it because you will probably be reading it a lot.

Thank you for reading this review, I hope it has been helpful in finding your child a great book. Now, I would really appreciate a moment of your time to help in further reviews. Please leave me a comment with the title and author of the monster book or Halloween book your 2- to 5-year-old child loved the most. If you’re comfortable, please also let us know at what age your kid(s) most enjoyed it. Thank you in advance for helping us all find great books!