First published in 1947, Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd’s Goodnight Moon has become one of the most beloved bedtime stories of all time. Its deceptively simple prose about a bunny’s bedtime rituals and dreamlike illustrations have made it a cultural touchstone that carries deep personal meaning for many families.
For Southern Colorado fiber artist Emilie Odeile, Goodnight Moon was more than just a bedtime story. “It was a favorite of mine from childhood,” she says. “It was a super comforting book that I ended up reading for many, many years, long after it was age-appropriate, just to come back to as a comfort book.”
Her creative partner, Ken Chapin, remembers reading it to his son, but admits that working on a book-related project gave him a new appreciation for the story’s place in literary history.
“Since doing the project, I’ve come to appreciate this story for much more than just its place in history,” Chapin says. “It’s a real turning point in children’s literature with the publishing of that book.”
Together, as Dundee & Lee, the pair spent six months painstakingly recreating Clement Hurd’s illustration of the Great Green Room from the story entirely out of yarn. They built everything from the ground up, from the walls to the furniture, right down to the tiny details that change from page to page.
“We were starting to get things looking so accurate that it was heartbreaking to think that there would be a piece in there that wouldn’t look like it had just been lifted off the pages,” Odeile says. “About halfway through the process of building everything, we finally concluded that we’re going to be making absolutely everything as accurately as we possibly can.”
The result is Goodnight Moon – A Fiber Tale, a room-sized installation made from 152 miles of yarn and nearly six million stitches that transports visitors straight into the classic tale. While they expected people to react to the work, they didn’t anticipate how deeply it would affect audiences.
“We have seen people stand in front of this thing and just cry. We were not prepared for that,” Chapin says. “We’re not trying to make people cry, but it really resonates with people of all ages. I mean, little kids have broken in and stolen the mouse. Adults have climbed over. People who know that they’re not allowed to touch it are doing it anyway because they cannot resist it. It’s kind of like going, ‘Hey, here’s the world’s best ice cream. Just look.’ They want to lick it and taste this thing.”
That emotional pull is what propelled the duo to expand beyond their debut run in 2023 at The Commons @ Trinidad Space To Create, where more than 10,000 people experienced the installation over its six-month run, into a full statewide initiative: The Year of Goodnight Moon.
The series began this month with a storytime at Barnes & Noble in Boulder and now moves to the Gordon Gamm Theater at the Dairy Arts Center from Friday, September 26, to Saturday, September 27. The Boulder performances mark the project’s Front Range premiere and the official launch of a tour that will continue through 2026 with confirmed stops, including a March run at the Parker Arts/PACE Center, and more dates still to come.
“This is a tour, and the Boulder event officially kicks off the year of Goodnight Moon in Colorado,” Chapin says. “The DCPA is doing the musical in October, then this installation goes to Parker and we have other things in the works that we are excited to share once things are finalized.”
As part of the Boulder event, families are encouraged to bring new or gently used children’s books to support Reach Out and Read Colorado, connecting the project’s artistry to literacy efforts across the state
“It’s a perfect partnership,” says Patty Fontneau, CEO, Reach Out & Read Colorado. “Bringing together the importance of reading for a child’s development with a beautiful environment (Goodnight Moon – A Fiber Tale) around one of the most iconic books out there.”
The idea for Goodnight Moon – A Fiber Tale had been percolating for years. Odeile first imagined an immersive yarn environment while knitting set pieces in Hollywood for an Old Navy commercial.
“The whole time that I was making it, I kept thinking, ‘What if I can make my own version of this, where I’m not beholden to other people’s designs and color schemes?’” she recalls. “It was sort of kicking around in the back of my head for about ten years that someday I would love to do a fully immersive yarn installation. A couple of years ago, the opportunity presented itself. Ken asked me what I would do if I could do any project at all, and it just flew out of my mouth: ‘I would knit Goodnight Moon,’ and he shockingly agreed to do it with me.”
The duo originally planned to debut the project in 2022, waiting for what they believed would be the book’s entry into the public domain. But just weeks before opening, they learned HarperCollins had extended copyright protections.
“All of a sudden we were, you know, out of compliance,” Odeile explains. “We sort of panicked, and we went through the steps to try to jump through the hoops of talking to somebody at HarperCollins.”
What could have been a disaster turned into a stroke of luck. By chance, Odeile’s mother had once worked as a midwife with the family of illustrator Clement Hurd. That connection led them directly to Thacher Hurd, his son, who embraced the project and helped secure an official license.
“We hopped on the phone with Thacher, and he said, ‘This is fantastic. Don’t worry about the copyright, but if you are really concerned, I’ll just give you my contact info at HarperCollins.’ And we said, ‘Yes, please,’ and he did,” Odeile says. “Within a few minutes, we gave them a call, and fortunately, it was a total yes. They checked in with HarperCollins, and they said, ‘We love what you’re doing. We’re going to go ahead and give you a gratis license,’ and they have continued to do that for all of our events.”
The installation first opened in May 2023 at Trinidad’s Space to Create, where it was expected to run for a month. Instead, it stayed up for six. The overwhelming response convinced the artists that the project should be shared with other communities.
“From the very beginning, the aim was for it to tour,” Chapin says. “It is designed so that it only takes the two of us to set it up, take it down, pack it up and move it, so this opening in Boulder is really proof of concept for a larger tour.”
The Boulder performances promise to be more than a walk-through exhibit.
“This isn’t a matter of sitting for an hour and a half and looking at artwork and nothing else. This is a full evening of fun,” Odeile says. “CU Boulder’s Impact Playback Theatre is going to come in and elicit stories from the audience about their memories of Goodnight Moon and their reaction to this installation. It’s going to be this interactive evening between the audience and Impact Playback Theatre, where they’re going to get some stories and immediately hop on stage to play back to the audience some version of the stories shared.”
As Boulder launches a statewide Goodnight Moon initiative, the artists say their long-term goals are far more ambitious. The duo hopes to take the installation across the country and eventually abroad, sharing one of the world’s most iconic bedtime stories in a way that transcends language and geography.
“Our ultimate dream is to travel this thing internationally,” Odeile says. “It’s a beloved story that people all around the world are familiar with, more so than many other children’s books out there, so that’s definitely on our radar.”
For now, though, Boulder audiences have just one chance to step into the knitted Great Green Room and see why a simple children’s book still has the power to stop people in their tracks.
“If people have any desire to see this artwork and share space with other people for whom this book is important, September 26 and 27 are the times to do it, because we’re not coming back,” Odeile says. “You’re going to have to travel if you want to come see this another time, so this is your shot. This is meant for families, and of course, children; that part is obvious. The less obvious part is that there is plenty here for people who are not children and who are not bringing children. This is not just a family or kids event. It’s an everybody event.”