Where The Wild Thing Reads: Wild Things

While Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak has been reviewed countless times, it still deserves the first entry on my blog. I spent the better part of my childhood gazing deeply into the gorgeous illustrations. Sendak is a master at story telling and illustrations. He often worked with authors like Else Holmelund Minarik, Ruth Krauss, and his brother Jack Sendak.

The book was made into a short animated film in 1973 narrated by Allan Swift. It was re-released in 1988 with a narration by Peter Schickele. The 1988 version is easily found and worth a watch.

Where the Wild Things Are was made in to a movie in 2009. With a soundtrack written by Karen O, of the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, (All is Love) and a trailer featuring the music of Arcade Fire (Wake Up) this movie was brilliant. Though is has gotten mixed reviews by parents for the dark nature of the film, for me it was just an extension of a fantastical adventure that began almost 50 years ago.

There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak produced in 2008 as a companion for the Sendak on Sendak Exhibit at the Rosenbach.

Tell Them Anything You Want (2010) is a documentary film about Maurice Sendak. Shows cantankerous, grumpy and funny old man speaking about his life and his work. The film was directed by Spike Jonze (the director of the 2008 adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are.) The film is a hilarious inside look into the world of Sendak.

In 2008 an article in the NY Times Sendak stated that he was Gay. Sendak has noted that this was not the first time his sexuality had been mentioned. This for me cemented him as my most loved author of all times. Being Gay as a child was confusing. I never felt like I really “fit in.” I retreated to world of books and fantasy because these were solitary activities that required no approval of others. Perhaps this is part of the reason I was drawn to Sendak’s works, but in truth he is just such a fanatic author and artist that I doubt him being Gay had anything to do with my long time love affair.

I could go on and on about all of the wonderfulness of Sendak but I wanted to keep the blog post fairly short…..So without further ado….