Ritual Reassurance
The addressing of individual items in the room as a bedtime ritual delivered in a completely non-judgmental way lacking any negative connotations becomes a theme that would resonate strongly with the very young children who are the target audience. The objective yet accepting tone of the book serves to validate such bedtime rituals regardless of what they might. A child being exposed to such an extensive habitual ceremony as a prelude to sleep would potentially be very reassuring to a child who might have faced criticism from somebody toward their own bedtime rite.
The Importance of Bedtime Stories
The illustrations accompanying the text subtly hint at the value of reading to a child. A painting of three bears—an allusion to Goldilocks—hangs on the wall above the bed while an adjacent wall features a painting of the cow jumping over the moon from the familiar nursery rhyme. The bowl of mush calls to mind the porridge which Goldilocks found waiting inside the home of the three bears. The mouse is placed in close proximity to the clock, recalling “Hickory Dickory Dock” and although it is difficult to tell in many editions, assertions have been made that the book on the nightstand is a copy of “Goodnight, Moon” while multiple references are made to the author’s previous book “Runaway Bunny.”
The Bedroom as a Safe Place
Although the bedroom pictured in the book looks like a safe and comforting environment, in reality it fraught with the potential to produce terror. Keep in mind that the target audience of the book are kids young enough to still be afraid of the dark and seek protection from the monsters under the bed. A closer look at the room reveals much that could—especially in the darkness of the middle of the night—stimulate the fears of monsters: the crackling of the fire, the scurrying of the mouse, the ticking of the clock, the shadows cast by moonlight, the silhouette of the red balloon and the creak of a rocking chair moved by a breeze coming through the window. That all these “monsters” can be rationally explained with the lights on could do much to soothe the fears of young readers dreading when the lights go out.
