Margaret Wise Brown — the name behind 'Goodnight Moon' and 'The Runaway Bunny,' lived a life that was every bit as memorable as her stories only wilder.

Margaret Wise Brown wrote more than 100 children’s books in her lifetime, many of them under pen names like Golden MacDonald and Timothy Hay.

She also wrote some of the most beloved lullabies for children... even though she admitted she didn’t really like children.

Her Manhattan home and later her houseboat at the 79th Street Boat Basin overflowed with rabbits, ducks, dogs, other pets and lots of fresh flowers from her spontaneous splurges at the markets.

She famously had a close romantic relationship for ten years with Michael Strange (Blanche Oelrichs), the poet and socialite who had once been John Barrymore’s wife. (John Barrymore, a leading matinee idol at the time, was also Drew Barrymore's grandfather.)

In 1952, her unexpected engagement to James Stillman Rockefeller Jr., a WWII pilot, made headlines. Sadly, she passed away before the wedding.

Her final moments were tragic and bizarre: recovering from minor surgery in Nice, France, she kicked up her leg to show how well she felt. She died just moments later from an embolism.

Her classic 'Goodnight Moon' was famously banned from the New York Public Library from 1947 until 1972. Anne Carroll Moore, the powerful children’s librarian, dismissed it as “overly sentimental” and too confined. She felt that it didn’t educate, and it all happened in one room. After the ban lifted, it became a generational favorite, winning hearts around the world.

She bequeathed all her book royalties—including 'Goodnight Moon' to a 9-year-old neighbor, Albert Edward Clarke III. The royalties grew into millions over the years, only to be squandered instead of stewarded. He passed away in 2018, and the royalties now pass to his children until the copyright expires in 2043.

In her books, the gentle rhythm of her words mirrors the childhood ritual she once shared with her brother. They said goodnight to the world around them when they were young. The carefully placed objects in her stories invite children to search each page, making every reading a quiet adventure.