Where the Wild Things Are, by Mauice Sendak

Oh, memories . . . this book was a favorite during my childhood. I remember when my dad would scare me with his bestial dramatic re-enactment of the wild rumpus!! He would hold the book open above his head, flipping slowly through each wordless page, while jumping around crazily, and grunting, making beat-box noises to the rhythm of the rumpus. Hilarious, I wonder if he remembers as well as I do?

I remember feeling sad for Max (the boy in the story) when he sent to bed for casuing "mischief of one kind . . . or another." The illustration of Max in his wolf suit holding a fork to "stab" his pet dog, and the shadow of this action reflected on the wall of the room, is still vivid in my memories of the book. I remember thinking, "Max is a bad boy!"

Even as a child I was able to recognize that Max was a "disturbed child," but was he really? Or is this how children are? Imaginative play is REAL and it is a part of their everyday lives. Reflecting the violence of the world in imaginative play, is part of developing an understanding of the world. For instance, when I got angry I remember going to my "deer stand" (below the picnic table) and gazing through the imaginary scope of my rifle to aim and kill the songbirds at my mom's bird feeder on the back porch. It really made her furious, but it was my way of using imaginative play to reflect "violent" feelings and emotions.

When these themes (such as Max pointing the fork downward to "stab" his dog) become personified in children's literature, it is not surprising that some will feel as if the book was published as a personal assault or something. Despite their opposition of good thought provoking literature, and their attempts to "ban" such "controversial" themes in children's literature, these conservatives cannot argue with the fact that children love the controversy! Books with "controversial" characters, topics, and themes are often times very relatable and intriguing for them - there's no getting away.

One last thought: the "Where the Wild Things Are" movie made think the about the book in a completely different way. I'm not sure if I was satisfied, it seems like the movie had the potential to be "exciting" and "captivating" but really it just depressed me. For all of these years I had thought of Max as a free spirit, but I came to find out (though the movie) that Max was a deeply depressed, lonely, and socially unadjusted child.