My World (book)
The cover of the book. Artwork by Clement Hurd
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| Author | Margaret Wise Brown |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Clement Hurd |
| Cover artist | Clement Hurd |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's literature |
| Publisher | Harper & Brothers |
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Publication date
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Dec. 1949 |
| Pages | 36 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Goodnight Moon |
My World is an American children's picture book written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd. The third book in Brown and Hurd's "classic series" (or "Runaway Bunny" series), it is the "companion" to Brown & Hurd's Goodnight Moon. My World was published in December 1949.
My World was published in 1949, just two years after Goodnight Moon. It is dedicated to Clement Hurd's son Thacher Hurd (who was born shortly before it was published).
My World was out of print by the 1970s, with some speculating that one scene showing the mother, father, and child sharing the bathroom may have been scandalous for that time period. In 2001, HarperFestival republished the book, recolored by Thacher Hurd.
In addition to multiple octavo and duodecimo paperback editions, My World is available in a board book edition, a book whose pages are actually stiff cardboard to make it suitable to give to a very young child.
My World, The Runaway Bunny, and Goodnight Moon have been published together as a collection titled Over the Moon.
My World features what appears to be the same rabbit child from its predecessor, but the bunny's consciousness now expands in scope beyond the green bedroom to a wide world. The child's understanding of the world exists in relation to his parents: "My slippers. / My pajamas. / Daddy's pajamas," and "Mother's chair. / My chair. / A low chair. / A high chair. / But certainly my chair." The child engages in various activities in parallel to his parents: brushing his teeth, playing with his toy car, etc. The book ends with his parents sitting nearby as the rabbit child swings from a tree branch, thinking "Your world. / My world. / I can swing / Right over the world."
As with Goodnight Moon, Brown's text is minimal, with a dreamlike quality and a narrative that conforms to a child's sense of logic. The artwork is composed of alternating spreads, mostly black-and-white with occasional color spreads.
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