Where the Wild Things Are on the Big Screen

Where the Wild Things Are, perhaps the most popular of the Maurice Sendak picture books, is a giant in the vast world of children's literature. Maybe it is the melodic language, "and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max and he sailed off through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are." Maybe it is the story itself - the action is immediate, within the first few pages, Max wears a wolf suit, creates mischief "of one kind and another", is sent to bed without his supper and a forest begins to grow in his room. (How cool is that?) For sure, the Caldecott Award winning wildly creative illustrations, play a part in making this book a favorite of both boys and girls.

Where the Wild Things Are has been courting children's imaginations since 1963. The first group of 4 year olds that repeatedly begged their parents to read it "one more time!" are turning 50 this year.

So when I saw the poster for the movie to be released this October, I felt a sinking feeling. I don't want to see some kid actor play the role of Max, and I don't want Hollywood special effects to ruin the way my imagination has perfected the Wild Rumpus. The story, a metaphor of a child's temper tantrum, is poetic and pure and should not be adapted, tweaked and ruined. I can "roar my terrible roar" all I want but kids will love the movie - and never know a piece of their pure imagination has been robbed.

No, Not Disney, The Other Walt

Although Walt Whitman did not write poetry for chlidren, Barbara Kerley's book, Walt Whitman, Words for America, brings one of America's most celebrated poets to life for kids of all ages. The breathtaking illustrations by Brian Selznick, make this one of the most beautiful picture books I have ever seen.

The first sentence of the book, written in gigantic font says, "WALT WHITMAN LOVED WORDS." Kerley follows Whitman's passion for words from his apprenticeship at a printers at age 12, through his days writing and printing his own newspaper, rambling through the country, and all the way through his involvement with the Civil War, helping care for wounded soldiers. She describes Whitman's devastation over Lincoln's Assassination - which inspired one of his most well known poems, "Oh Captain! My Captain!"

Kerley uses Whitman's poetry not only to show what Whitman was feeling and experiencing at different stages of his life, but also, the triumphs, pains, and emotions of an entire country. Whitman truly was a voice for America:

I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise...
Maternal as well as paternal, a child as well as a man,
Stuff'd with the stuff that is coarse and stuff'd with the stuff that is fine,...

One of the Nation of many nations, the smallest of the small and the largest the same,
A southerner soon as a Northerner...
...a Hoosier, Badger, Buckeye...
At home on the hills of Vermont or in the woods of Maine, or the Texan ranch...
Of every hue and caste am I, of every rank and religion...

I resist any thing better than my own diversity...


"Song of Myself" from Leaves of Grass

April is National Poetry Month

National Library Week and Opening Day

I've never noticed that National Library Week, and the beginning of the baseball season often overlap. I would never have associated the two. But this year, partly inspired by a poem by Elaine Pike about Baseball and partly because I wanted to celebrate National Library Week by branching out and reading something to my kids that I wouldn't normally read, I think I've hit a home run. (OK, that was bad. I will leave the baseball imagery to the poet)

The first official National Library Week was launched in 1957 fueled by concern about recent research showing that people were reading less and spending more time listening to the radio, watching TV, or playing musical instruments.

It's just a hunch, but I think there may be a correlation between the results of the research and the fact that in 1956 Elvis Presley appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, had several hits on the charts including Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, Love Me Tender, and Blue Suede Shoes. Wizard of Oz was shown on television for the first time and that was also the year that Don Larson pitched the only perfect game in a World Series.

Phillip Hoose was in fourth grade in 1956 and trying to fit in. He was a huge baseball fan and tried hard to become a good player himself. One of the highlights of his childhood was meeting his cousin, Don Larson who gave him a big hug and introduced him to the Yankees. Hoose did not grow up to play baseball like the cousin he admired so much, but he did grow up to write about it. His book, Perfect Once Removed: When Baseball was all the World to Me, has received rave reviews and is exactly the kind of book I was searching for this week! Oh, and April is National Poetry Month, so with the Hoose's book, Pike's poem and a great opening day, I've got all bases covered.

baseball season
Elaine Pike

crack of the bat
you're outta here
with its full count
and its base stealing
disaster narrowly averted
suicide squeeze
collisions at home plate
in a cloud of dust
and its pitch by pitch story
fans perched on the edges
of their seats like falcons.

the outfield diving drama
is beginning to unfold
like a caterpillar slowly emerging
from a cocoon
creeping upon the collective
american psyche
as spring season games and the
world baseball classic are
wiggling their way across
our plasma screens
announcing the appearance
silently, without anyone taking notice,
of baseball.

baseball,
the great american past time
is sprouting wings
to reveal itself in the
beer slurping peanut popping
salty mustard ketchup and relish
hot dog gorging fans of
the boys of summer
conjures visions of
fourth of july fireworks
sites set on hot summer nights and
take me out to the ballgame days.

grab your neatsfoot oil
and drag that cracked old mitt
out of the dark
it's time to pay homage
make the pilgrimage
to the ballpark
revere in the church of baseball
the perfect green fields
of the hallowed stadium
raise your eyes in divine hope
to the scoreboard
the halos of angels ensconced
in the moth drawing lights
and give praise
to the arrival of
baseball.

Kids Pick Their Favorites

The 2nd annual Children’s Choice Book Awards are upon us and as the name implies, kids and teens vote for their favorite book, author and illustrator.
Kids of all ages can cast their vote between now and May 3rd. It’s so easy, click here - www.bookweekonline.com and have your child pick from the list of finalists - nominated by 15,000 kids.

Since kids have until May 3rd to vote, they still have time to read nominated titles that they have not read yet. What a fun way to get kids excited about reading some new books. Help your child be an informed voter by helping them make a list of the titles to take to the library. Winners will be announced on May 12th.

Stay tuned.

The Art of Friendship

Today is my friend Vicky's birthday. She is a brilliant graphic artist, supportive wife and fun mom. We met in first grade at recess on the swings and a lifelong friendship immediately flourished. Today, just as in 1977, her laugh, which starts as a giggle and revs up from there, remains one of my favorite things about her. We created mud pies in her back yard, I threw up spending the night at her house after eating too much popcorn and candy, we made prank calls from my Snoopy phone. We hung out at the beach, and screamed till we became hoarse at the Duran Duran concert. As young adults we went our separate ways both emotionally and geographically. And just by chance, (or divine intervention?) 6 months ago we moved into a house just over a mile from her and her family. Once again, her contagious laugh has become a welcome mainstay in my life.
I looked for a book to buy her for her birthday and found
Thanks for Being My Friend by Ashley Rice. The freshness and wisdom is mature enough for an adult, yet simple enough for a child. Rice's verbage and whimsical illustrations, make her book, for lack of a more sophisticated word,... cute!

Rice puts it this way on page 6:
"Friends like you are hard to find. In a lifetime you get only a few. And when you find them, you always know them by sight and heart alone. And when you find them, you always grow a little bit taller in your soul."

Rice's other books include ones written to help girls feel confident - You Go Girl...Keep Dreaming and Girls Rule.

In addition to writing and illustrating books, Rice creates frames, magnets and greeting cards which make even the most sentimental Hallmark card seem redundant and flat.

Check out Ashely Rice's website.
http://www.ashleyrice.com/ After making your selection, you will want to invite her over for a slumber party.

Author Spotlight - Happy Birthday Theodore Geisel!

Long before Sam I Am refused to eat green eggs and ham, Theodore Geislel’s first children’s book, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street was rejected 26 different times by publishers. Thank goodness Geisel had tenacity. It is hard to imagine any child’s bookshelf without The Cat in the Hat or Hop on Pop.

Theodore Geisel was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1904. He attended Dartmouth College where he wrote and then became editor in chief of the school newspaper. He was caught throwing a party with alcohol, a serious offense, as it was during Prohibition, and was told he could no longer write for the paper. This is when he adopted the pen name Dr. Seuss. (There’s something they don’t tell the kiddies at school!)
Dr. Seuss went on to write and illustrate over 60 books in 54 years, between 1937 and 1990. He also illustrated the majority of his books as well.

During World War II, Geisel, with only a handful of children’s books published, turned his focus to drawing political cartoons. He had over 400 published. He also designed posters for the U.S. treasury and eventually enlisted in the army in 1943, where he was in charge of writing films with titles such as “Your Job in Germany” about post war peace in Europe.

After the War, Geisel lived the rest of his days in La Jolla California writing and illustrating children’s books.

As children we loved the crazy creatures, the rhymes and the humor in the Dr. Seuss books. But Dr. Seuss also gave us something deeper. He gave us permission to be ourselves and be proud of who we are. He had a way of imparting wisdom that even our parents and teachers could not.

Here are some of my favorite Dr. Seuss quotes:

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose.”

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.”

“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.”

“Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.”

The Graveyard Book

I finished this year's Newberry Award winner, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. It was original and well written, yet I do not think this is the stuff classics are made of.

In Chapter One, an unsuspecting toddler escapes his own murder, quite by accident. The intruder left the front door open while he was busy stabbing the parents and sister in their sleep. The little one toddles down the stairs, out the front door and up the hill to the graveyard, oblivious of the danger that he is in.

The residents of the graveyard understand quickly that the baby is in danger and take him in to keep him safe. After a debate about who he looks like it is decided he looks like nobody but himself and is named Nobody. Bod for short. Bod spends his entire childhood in the graveyard as the murderer has not finished his duty and is still searching for him. As the story unfolds, the reader is only given hints as to who the killer is and what the motive is, building suspense.

In addition to being safe, Bod’s guardian Silas, believes Bod should be educated. He teaches Bod his ABC’s by running his fingers over the letters of the newest and clearest headstones.

Bod is given the “Freedom of the Graveyard.” Among the perks associated with this Freedom is the ability pass through walls, see in the dark, and fade from view. Skills he will need later for his own survival.

I loved the different characters who lived in the graveyard. When Bod hurts his ankle, Dr. Trefusis (1870-1936, May He Wake to Glory) takes a look at it and diagnoses it was just a bad sprain.

When Bod seeks advice, who better to go to than Nehemiah Trot, the resident Poet (1741-1774) A SWAN SINGS WHEN IT DIES.

There was the couple Tom Sands, who lived during the Hundred Years War with France and Miss Euphemia Horsfall (1861-1883, She Sleeps, Aye, Yet She Sleeps with Angels), The couple "seemed to have no trouble with the difference in their historical periods."

Although very risky, for a brief time Bod leaves the graveyard to go to school, promising to keep a very low profile. In his history class, Bod "often had to resist the urge to say that it hadn't happened like that, not according to people who had been there anyway."

I admire Gaiman's ability to create a totally imagined world of the dead and so effortlessly blend it with our world. Who isn't curious about what is on the other side? I would have preferred more of the subtle humor and less of the disturbing and dark scenes, which I suspect for younger readers could be very scary. I am glad I read the book, but I am definitely not dying to read a sequel.