Where the Wild Things Are

 With the film adaptation still awing audiences in theaters, Where the Wild Things Are has been in the limelight since the beginning of fall—or even earlier, given the anticipation Spike Jonze’s film aroused. But even without the film, the merchandise, the super cool costumes and bobble heads and t-shirts, the book is a masterpiece all on its own.

Unlike the film, Maurice Sendak’s amazing story involves the land of the wild things growing in Max’s actual bedroom. Rather than externalizing the wildness found within him, the wildness is actually in his own room, in his own home—stemming from his very life rather than an outside force. Sure, this might be a bit philosophical for children, but it’s a bit scary for them, too—and neither make it less enjoyable on the whole.

The ocean, the boat, everything—it all stems from Max’s own bedroom. And he sails to the land of the wild things for nearly an entire year—this was one thing I had hoped the film would capitalize on, as it would make for some pretty awesome adventures—including the encounter with the sea dragon pictured in the book.  This makes Max’s journey even more arduous and appreciable for its danger and uncertainty.

Something else that happens in the book that’s quite different from the film is Max’s apparent lack of fear around the wild things. In the film, he does appear frightened, whereas in the book he is immediately quite comfortable with his new friends. And when he is ready to return home, it’s due to a more primal urging—that of the smell of his mother’s cooking!—rather than such grown up issues that are tackled, though beautifully, in the film.

It’s such a great childhood story that banks on the absolute essence of being a child—and being loved by your parents. Though Max’s mother sends him to bed without supper, she ultimately brings it to his room, and when he returns from his adventure it’s still hot, leading us to wonder what exactly she saw Max doing in his bedroom while he was “away,”—sleeping? pretending in the closet? We’re never told, of course, because that would take away from the book’s magic spell. Still, that piping hot meal ready for Max after his incredible journey points toward a pretty magical element in his own mother and her love of him, too.