Streator post office to celebrate ‘Goodnight Moon’ stamp with library event of activities

The Streator Post Office will host “Goodnight Moon Celebration: A Stamp-Sized Tribute” from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 2, at the Streator Public Library, 130 S. Park St.

The celebration of “Goodnight Moon” is in honor of the USPS’s release of “Goodnight Moon” stamps. They are available for purchase at the event.

The library and post office will lead a reading of the book, provide refreshments, children’s crafts, games, prize drawings and a photo opportunity in front of a professionally painted “Goodnight Moon” backdrop.

A raffle will run from May 2 through May 9 at the post office, 221 E. Hickory St. To enter the drawing to win the basket, customers need to purchase a sheet of the “Goodnight Moon” stamps and your name will be entered into the drawing.

“The Goodnight Moon” Forever stamp will be issued on May 2 at the First Class Rate. They are sold in a pane of 16 stamps for $11.68.

The stamp pane features eight details from the picture book, including the young bunny tucked into bed; the painting of three little bears; the toy house on the bedroom floor; the mittens and socks hung to dry; the tiny mouse paused for just a moment in front of the fireplace; the painting of the cow jumping over the Moon; the older bunny sitting in the rocking chair with her knitting; and the comb, brush, and bowl of mush atop the young bunny’s bedside table. Each scene appears twice on the pane.

A reproduction of the book’s cover image fills the center of the pane and includes the names of the author, Margaret Wise Brown, and the illustrator, Clement Hurd. The back of the pane features a black and white rendering of the bedroom.

“Goodnight Moon” revolutionized children’s publishing when it debuted in 1947 and has since become favorite bedtime reading for millions of families around the world. The story allows children to imagine themselves in the cozy bedroom of a young bunny, saying goodnight to everything they see.