Illustrating The Moon Shines Down by Margaret Wise Brown

Thomas Nelson has acquired an unpublished manuscript by renowned children's book author Margaret Wise Brown. After Brown's death in 1952, a sheaf of yellowed pages held together by paper clips had languished for 30 years in a cedar chest in her sister's attic. Among these undiscovered stories was The Moon Shines Down—based on the classic New England Sampler prayer God Bless the Moon and God Bless Me—which Nelson will publish this November.
Laura Minchew, children's publisher for Thomas Nelson, said, "I had known for a long time there were stories out there that Brown had not published or finished in her lifetime. Last year I was talking to Amy Gary of Watermark about our favorite authors, and I mentioned I didn't think a children's book got any better than Goodnight Moon." It happened that Gary held the rights to license The Moon Shines Down, and Minchew acquired the book this past fall.

The Moon Shines Down will be illustrated by Linda Bleck in a style similar to that of Clement Hurd, who illustrated some of Brown's best-known works. "It's a little more colorful and detailed, but it will look and feel familiar to Brown's readers," Minchew said. —Lynn Garrett