In the 65 years since it was published, the classic children's book "Goodnight Moon" has lulled countless youngsters to sleep -- not to mention doing almost the same to their parents, who often find themselves struggling to stave off boredom as they read Margaret Wise Brown's repetitive bedtime tale over and over again, night after night.
Technology has come to the weary parents' rescue via a narrated version of the story -- in which a bunny says "goodnight" to everything in its room, one item at a time -- that can be downloaded onto a smartphone or tablet computer. That's right; it's narrated. All you have to do is click on the autoplay button, step back and, according to the app's creators, let your child enjoy the "calm and captivating narration" to their heart's content.
The app, available for $4.99 from iTunes, has other features, too. Young readers can use the "magnifying glass" function to zoom in on illustrator Clement Hurd's elaborate drawings (watch how he changed the time on the clock from one page to the next). There's also an interactive function that enables the user to manipulate the animation; when the bunny bids goodnight to its mittens, you can make the mittens wave back.
Oh, yeah, there's one other feature, but you might want to skip mentioning it to your would-be sleepyhead: You can turn off the narration and read the story yourself.
