A favorite past time of mine is going in a bookstore and immersing myself in the different titles and genres of books. I forget about time when I am in a bookstore.
Now in all of my recent trips to our local bookstore I have come across a book entitled Where the Wild Things Are. I have always been curious to know what this book was all about, however despite my curiosity I have never once lifted a displayed copy of the book not even to read the synopsis. One particular trip though, I was about to lift the book up when I heard my husband's car horn honk. I returned the book and hurriedly got out of the store. This time I left the bookstore with a plan in mind. The moment I got home, I Googled the title, and found out seven things that I think you should know about the book.
1. Did you know that the book was banned in libraries when it first came out because parents were concerned about the grotesque appearance of the characters on the book.
2. Although the initially surfaced with a bad reputation, It reaped numerous awards. In 1964 it was awarded the Caldecott Medal, which is awareded to the artist who published the most distinguished American picture book for children. It also received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Awardn which is one of the most prestigious awards in the United States in the field of children's and young adult literature. The book was also given the citation as an American Library Association Notable Book.
3. The original cover of the book was supposed to have horses instead of these monsters, but author Maurice Sendak didn't know how to draw horses and could only draw "a thing." Well it's a good thing Maurice Sendak doesn't know how to draw horses because they are not exactly a proper portrayal of the word "wild" are they?
4. Did you know that this book was once portrayed in the opera, and Muarice Sendak used the names of his relatives for the characters instead of the names on the book. They were Tzippy, Moishe, Aaron, Emile and Bernard.
5. A movie version of the book has already been released for viewing in Ocotber 2009. The film is directed by Spike Jonze and the real name of the boy who plays Max in the film is Max Records. Talk about a movie meant for him!
5. The Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia holds the orignal color and artwoork of the book Where the Wild Things Are.
6. Where the Wild Things Are is included in Oprah's Kid's Reading List. Click on the link to see other books included in Oprah's Kid's Reading List.
7. Finally, Maurice Sendak admitted that he was gay in the September 2008 issue of the New York Times. Quite a shocker ha?!
Some of the other literary works of Muarice Sendak are In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, Higglety Pigglety Pop!: Or There Must Be More to Life.
Where the Wild Things Are is the story of Max, who one evening plays around his home making "mischief" in a wolf costume. As punishment, his mother sends him to bed without supper. In his room, a mysterious, wild forest and sea grows out of his imagination, and Max sails to the land of the Wild Things. The Wild Things are fearsome-looking monsters, but Max conquers them by "by staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once", and he is made "the king of all wild things", dancing with the monsters in a "wild rumpus". However, he soon finds himself lonely and homesick and he returns home to his bedroom where he finds his supper waiting for him still hot.
(Facts and findings of Where the Wild Things Are courtesy of www.wikepedia.com)
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Where the Wild Things Are: The 7 Facts |
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INSPIRATIONAL BOOK FOR MOMS |
Yesterday I made a playhouse for my daughters using an old box which was used to hold the television set we got last Christmas. I simply cut a rectangle shape in the middle for the door, two small boxes on both sides for windows, punched holes on each end of the cover and tied it together for the roof, and presto instant and costless playhouse. To get the feel of a playhouse I added small curtains for the windows and placed a small comforter inside the box for its floor. I was so happy with my latest masterpiece that I took a photo of the makeshift playhouse, but my happiness was nothing compared to my daughters. They were so delighted that they both went inside this small box to play. Imagine my amazement when I saw my six year old together with my one year old both inside the box, I never thought they would both fit inside it. They were such a delight to behold, but what wasn't so delightful to behold was the disarray that came after playtime. I didn't feel like picking up after them so I just left it alone and went upstairs and looked for something to read. Then I saw the book that my husband gave when I was just pregnant with my eldest daughter, Gabby. It kind of called out to me so I picked up, scanned the pages for a story to read and then I saw the lesson that was highlighted and boxed in page one hundred seventy-four. It said "The darn trouble with cleaning the house is it gets dirty the next day anyway, so skip a week if you have to. The children are the most important thing." I read this passage and nodded somewhat in agreement. Yes children are important, but it is equally important to teach them the proper things to do and cleanliness in a home is one of those. At the end of my reading and the epiphany that came with it, I stood up and went downstairs and watched my children enjoy themselves, but we made an agreement that they would have to clean up after their mess if they ever wanted to play inside our makeshift playhouse again. Not only did this reduce my cleaning time, but also taught my kids organization and cleanliness.
This book has been a big help to me when I was raising Gabby. I should probably look it up more for reference and inspiration with raising Yvaine this time. Contrary to other books, it doesn't have a concrete how to guide in raising a child. It doesn't tell you that this method is much better than that. What it does is that it inspires you with real life stories of mothers, the situations they had with their kids and how they tried to deal with it. It is an inspirational guide to motherhood and it certainly worked for me. I hope it does for you too.
