Goodnight Moon

Set in a dystopian future in which genetically engineered animals have devoured humanity, GOODNIGHT MOON is told from the perspective of a unseen, dying victim of the ravenous hordes. As he reflects on the scene with his last breaths, MOON provides a terrifying eulogy for the human race.

Margaret Wise Brown’s approach to the apocalypse is a minimalist one. Leaving only vague hints about the world in the wake of DR. MOREAU-style takeover by anthropomorphic animals, the slowly expiring narrator describes his deathbed — a seemingly normal bedroom and its mundane, but symbolically sinister furnishings.

As illustrated by Clement Hurd, the room is green (a metaphor for Earth), while a balloon the color of bright arterial blood hangs over the tableau, suggesting both a fading sun and the blood spilled across the world in humanity’s losing battle against the cunning beasts.

Goodnight Moon