I loved sharing this sweet bedtime story with my son when he was little and am now rediscovering it for library lessons. For the younger grades, it works well for discussing rhyming words--"'mush' is kind of like oatmeal or porridge, but does 'brush' and 'hush' rhyme with 'oatmeal'? No!" With all the grades, I'm surprised at how many students had never noticed the mouse that Clement Hurd tucked into each of the color pictures--and all of the grades--K-5--have seemed to really enjoy this mouse scavenger hunt. Do YOU see the mouse in this picture? Of course, when sharing with a group, it's a lot easier because you can project the images as you read and also zoom in.
Also take a moment to point out that Clement Hurd included a painting of a picture from Runaway Bunny. Many of our aspiring illustrators (and your friendly bookdragon!) get a huge kick out that.
With 3rd grade and up, I point out the title page and ask them to locate the copyright date--they are usually surprised that it was published in 1947--and to put it into perspective, I tell them that, not only did many of their parents but probably their grandparents grew up with this story. That's a great segue for introduction of parody and Michael Rex's "Goodnight Goon."
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