Goodnight, Broom: A Spine-Tingling Spoof

Goodnight Moon takes on a haunted hue in Adamson’s board book send-up, which successfully echoes the source text’s rhythmic intonation for an amusingly spell-binding effect. The work begins “in the wee witch’s room,” where creepy clutter lays about: “There was a magic wand/ A pointy hat/ A busy broom/ And a frog leaping over the moon.” Electric hues, including ample magenta highlights, energize Pe’s unlined digital renderings of a cobweb-covered bedroom in which carnivorous plants chomp at glowing flies and a cauldron burbles away. Slightly scary stimulations or no, the pigtailed protagonist achieves a familiar-feeling wind down, setting aside a spell book to say a final “Good night trick/ Good night treat,// Good night wee witches/ On every street.” Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 1–3. (July)