FUNNY!! ( )

OK, I read this, in its brief entirety at the bookstore. It's priceless. Satire at the level of "The Daily Show". Great illustrations, smart references, and a spot on parody of the original "Goodnight, Moon".

Should go nicely in the Bush Library. I mean, the Bush Shelf.
Cubby Hole?

My bias is showing, but if you don't believe we've had the most forthcoming, capable leadership the past eight years, and you can still laugh about it, this is well worth reading or gifting to a Blue-state buddy. ( )

What's not to love about this little gem of a parody that manages to lambaste GWB, Cheney, even Condi Rice? The book recreates the feel of the classic children's book by Margaret Wise Brown with illustrations by Clement Hurd. But instead of a young rabbit saying goodnight to all the things around him is the adolescent, cocaine sniffing George Bush. Swap the cute little mouse flitting about the great green room for an impish Osama Bin Laden. And standing in for the quiet old lady whispering hush is the snarling nanny Dick Cheney, sporting sad little rabbit slippers. Subbing for two playful kittens is a fox, who manages to chew up extra uncounted ballots from Florida and hump nanny Dick. For all it's brevity, the book manages to work in digs about Bush's stupidity (Goodnight evolution), his disdain for civil liberties (Goodnight democracy and goodnight privacy, goodnight detainees, and goodnight Abu Ghraib "cheese") his quest to gift our federal government to private interests (goodnight old growth trees, goodnight [housing] bubble bursting in air, goodnight piggy [national treasury] beyond repair) and many other disastrous Bush policies. This is not for young kids, but older children who grew up with the children's classic will appreciate the irony. A lovely parting gift book for those who are eagerly awaiting some actual statesmanship and greed-free leadership from America's executive branch. ( )

Tiny Osama bin Laden is cute, and it pleases me to no end that niece Luisa will grow up with immaculate political opinions that she will not have to unlearn in the gulag for the good of the Revolution. But this book is also, inevitably but disappointingly, so American. "Goodnight the environment" and "goodnight paraplegic Iraqi children" are in here, in one form or another, but so is "goodnight separation of powers" and something something Grand Old Party (uck! I know it's a conventional phrase, but it is still subconsciously making you feel better about the Republicans, dudes!) and goodnight our status as a beacon of light and city on a hill and moral leader in the world which we apparently were until Bush took over. I'm exaggerating, but that American exceptionalism that puts Katrina on the same stage as Iraq is sadly evident.

Also, niece Luisa is 2 and at night she goes "George Bush! George Bush!" as she clamours for her favourite bedtime story. Is it possible that she's a li'l bit young and this is maybe just making her like him like a cute childhood character? Miffy would teach him a lesson or two about how to play nicely with others. ( )

While good for a laugh and a well done parody, Goodnight Bush is, on the whole, fairly unspectacular. I have heard that a reading of Goodnight Moon beforehand enhances the experience. I haven't read Goodnight Moon in years, so I can't confirm nor deny that. I did enjoy reading it, and I enjoyed searching every page for little hidden jokes, but I don't think there was anything that made me laugh out loud. I found myself wondering, near the end of the book, what the point was. It's cute, but what does it contribute to anything?
I wouldn't mind reading it again, but I wouldn't buy it. ( )