Noah Cooper
I never really got it
I didn’t read this book when I was a kid. In fact I had never even heard about it until the film came out. There was quite a bit of hype around the film with a number of people saying they had loved it when they were younger so I got the film on DVD. I am not sure if I was more disappointed or confused. I couldn’t quite see the point of the film, nor why it might have been a children’s classic.
No matter. When Thomas was born it was one of the books I decided to get for him because if so many people thought it had been so influential in their young lives then maybe the problem was with the film, not the book. Well, I was pretty wrong about that.
The book tells the story of a young boy who is sent to his bedroom for answering back to his mother. Once in his room his imagination takes over and he travels off to the place where the wild things live. After while he gets bored with this place and then comes back to real life where his dinner is waiting for him. The text is very short, giving just the minimum information and allowing the pictures and your own imagination to do the rest of the work.
I didn’t get the fascination with the book. I thought it was ok, but that was about it. I have tried reading it to Thomas, but he never picks it as the one he wants. When I show it to him he shakes his head forlornly and says ‘noooo’. This might be because I wasn’t enthusiastic about it in the first place and so I never transmitted any positive energy about it to Thomas. Or maybe Thomas is too young to know about answering back to his parents and then letting his imagination go wild. Or it might just be that he doesn’t get it as well.
A Different Point of View
Where the Wild Things Are – suebe.wordpress.com
Where the Wild Things Are – commonsensemedia.org
Where the Wild Thngs Are – childrensbooks.about.com
