Speaking Volumes

Will you be going to see Where the Wild Things Are in the theater?

I’m not sure if I will or not. I’m thinking I’ll wait until I get some feedback from library patrons. If people are raving about it, then I might go. I am very curious as to how they turned the 48 page book, which is mostly pictures, into an hour and half long movie.

Last Thursday we had a special Wild Things Program, where I read the book and then did a variety of crafts with the kids. While getting ready for the program, I found a Maurice Sendak biography which had some very interesting information on the author. Apparently, Sendak was planning on writing a children’s book about horses, but he couldn’t draw horses that well, so he decided to switch to ‘things.’ He based the drawings of the monsters on his aunts and uncles, who he hated! From chatting with a co-worker I found out that Sendak had a pretty disturbing childhood, his parents frequently telling him they never wanted him in the first place. In fact, HBO recently made a documentary about Maurice Sendak, called Tell Them Anything You Want: A Portrait of Maurice Sendak, where he talks about his work and his bizarre childhood. I don’t get HBO, but I would love to see this! Here is the link to a trailer on HBO’s website:

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/tellthemanything/index.html

For some Where the Wild Things Are movie reviews, copy and paste the following link:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/news#ni1088707

If you see the movie this weekend please comment!
 

*** added by CarolK 

I'm not certain if I'll go to see the movie. Max and his creatures scare me just a bit. Still, I think it's the perfect movie for seeing on the big screen. Maybe I can find a child to hold my hand!

Jennifer Brown posted a great take on Spike Jonze in Shelf Awareness entitled Deeper Understanding: Where The Wild Things Are. It's worth reading. Here's just a clip:

Max has appeared in a book again only once,
a reissue of Ruth Krauss's 1948 text Bears (HarperCollins/di Capua, 2005).
Ruth Krauss and her husband, Crockett Johnson (Harold and the Purple Crayon),
whom everyone called Dave,
mentored Sendak throughout his early career.
On weekends, he visited them in their Connecticut home
with the manuscript for Wild Things.
"Dave gave me the word 'rumpus,'" Sendak said in an interview
(Publishers Weekly, April 18, 2005)
"Max was like our child."
Would Sendak entrust Max to just anyone?"
 
Here's to Spike Jonze,
who has shepherded Max to the big screen
and safely home again.
--Jennifer M. Brown

Do let us know if you go...