In the Great Green Room

The Brilliant and Bold Life of Margaret Wise Brown

By: Amy Gary

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

The extraordinary life of the woman behind the beloved children's classics Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny comes alive in this fascinating biography of Margaret Wise Brown. Margaret's books have sold millions of copies all over the world, but few people know that she was at the center of a children's book publishing revolution. Her whimsy and imagination fueled a steady stream of stories, book ideas, songs, and poems and she was renowned for her prolific writing and business savvy, as well as her stunning beauty and endless thirst for adventure.

Margaret started her writing career by helping to shape the curriculum for the Bank Street School for Children, making it her mission to create stories that would rise above traditional fairy tales and allowed girls to see themselves as equal to boys. At the same time, she also experimented endlessly with her own writing. Margaret would spend days researching subjects, picking daisies, cloud gazing, and observing nature, all in an effort to precisely capture a child's sense of awe and wonder as they discovered the world.

Clever, quirky, and incredibly talented, Margaret embraced life with passion, lived extravagantly off of her royalties, went on rabbit hunts, and carried on long and troubled love affairs with both men and women. But before she could marry Margaret died unexpectedly at the age of 42, leaving behind a cache of unpublished work and a timeless collection of books that would go on to become classics in children's literature.

Author Amy Gary captures the eccentric and exceptional life of Margaret Wise Brown, and drawing on newly discovered personal letters and diaries, reveals an intimate portrait of a creative genius whose unrivaled talent breathed new life into the literary world.

©2017 Amy Gary (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

insightful life story of beloved children's author

the author provides authenticity to this biography. Every parent who owned and read, re-read "Runaway Bunny"and "Good Night Moon will appreciate the life events which inspired these and hundreds of creative works by Margaret Wise Brown. she lived a full life and produced volumes of joy for readers over the years. thank you.

Goldie

I had always pictured Margaret Wise Brown as a little old lady in a rocking chair. That was fine but now I will enjoy her book so much more knowing a truly engaging and life filled girl she was

A great biography of a wonderful author.

I have always admired the books of Margaret Wise Brown and encourage other fan and aficionados to read or listen to it.

Beautiful biography about such a unique woman

Love this biography. Made me interested in all aspects of her life and influences. Really well written and full of intimacy and detail.

Excruciatingly boring

I can't even listen. This biography kind of destroys the enchantment of the beloved children's books. Such a terribly lifeless and annoying narration as well.

Fascinating story poorly told

Margaret Wise Brown deserves better. I had no idea that, in addition to being one of my favorite children's books author, she had an interesting life. This book appears to be attempting to drown out Brown's story in utter tedium. The author poorly strings together bits from Brown's own writings but adds nothing. Nothing the performer could do but make this a boring listen.

HATED - read the other biography

I mainly hated that it seemed like the author was obsessed with the fact that this woman was white and blue eyed and thin and blonde and rich and fancy. It isn’t interesting, but it is mildly offensive. She spent the whole time breathlessly detailing how the subject of the book did a bunch of things that came from privilege without examining that privilege at all. There is another biography of her available. I hear it is much better. Read that instead

A terrible waste of time.

What disappointed you about In the Great Green Room?

There really is nothing here of interest. There is no insight, no examination of the character, just the bland narration pulled from diary material recorded over time by an extremely self-center woman, who by an accident of fate produced a few much beloved children's books for preschoolers.

What could Amy Gary have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Examined the character of her subject.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator's delivery was flat as flat as the bio.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I'm afraid not.

Any additional comments?

Biographies can be inspired...just as one example think of the brilliant Judith Thurman bio... ''Isak Dinesen, The Life of a Storyteller''.

Not enjoyable.

Boring and reads like an 13 year old girls love manifesto to a celebrity.