It's kinda hilarious how we have this perception of kids being innocent when kids revel in the taboo/forbidden and will often seek out the strange and frightening for themselves. I had an elementary student tell me her favorite movie is SCREAM (1996). Kids like monsters and scary things, whether parents want to admit it or not.
Sometimes they'll like things just because they're taboo. Adults don't like to expose kids to these things because it would require explaining these things. And goodness knows they don't want to do that.
This attitude toward children varies across cultures and eras. A number of European cultures don’t see children as “innocent” and often use fear to teach them to behave.
The torture fantasies I came up with when I were seven were probably more extreme (and more likely to need an age rating) than anything I write now that I'm grown. And I don't write children's literature or YA; it's mostly adult fantasy. I wasn't even consuming particularly dark media at the time. No horror movies, nothing particularly violent. All the insane edgelord violence in my little baby self's DIY bedtime stories came straight from me.
Something similar happened with “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” when I was young. There are folks who cannot be made to see the value in letting kids confront fear in safe ways (possibly because they weren’t afforded the experience themselves) and their predictable response is to ban the things that scare them.
Well worded, and very insightful. Book banning was so hard for me to wrap my mind around (even though I consider myself to be pretty strong in the empathy department), but I think you hit the nail on the head. That’s the only way they know how to address their fears, because they didn’t get the practice they needed as children. I hope your comment winds up being on top!
@@shelbylynn9 Ironic that they go after fictional books of fictional terrors, thinking that will protect the kiddies and they don't try to solve the problems of the real horrors that kids have to deal with growing up. Things like, oh, poverty and food insecurity and abusive parents and mass shootings in schools.
Oh man, I read those books as a kid. They were super scary, and super trippy. So entertaining. Guillermo del Toro turned a few of those stories into a movie a few years ago. It's a fun watch.
Roald Dahl, Coraline, every classic fairytale ever… there are many great scary, violent or gross stories for children. Kids aren’t unfinished adults, they have complicated emotions of their own and they deserve emotionally rich stories. It’s the parents’ job, like Max’ mother, to guide their kids and keep them save on that journey.
Yeah, I got the "escapism out of frustration and anger to release emotion" relation to the book a lot as a kid. The personified emotions trying to "eat you up" hits harder as an adult.
Absolutely agree! I usually write stories or create dark fantasy art to help me cope with certain emotions. They can be scary at times, but it helps me cope with certain emotions.
I loved this book for my first son (now 28) and have given it to just about every young child among family and friends. Yes, it's dark. Life for kids can be dark. It addresses hard feelings like anger, helplessness, fear of abandonment. Pretending that kids should only have happy and positive media is a direct insult to their lived understanding of the world.
Exactly. My dad embraced this kind of media for and when I asked as an adult why, he said “I wanted you to understand that the world isn’t always a nice place”. It wasn’t traumatizing or being cold; he just wanted us to have some reference or context for the inevitable tough times that come with life.
@@esteemedmortal5917 I can't remember where this quote came from, but I still love it. "We don't tell our children stories of monsters to teach them that monsters exist. Even children know that there are real life monsters. We tell them these stories to show them that the monsters can be defeated." In Where the Wild Things Are the monsters are the internal demons of difficult emotions. And indeed the story ends with those monsters tamed and Max back in a safe place after dealing with them.
"Where the Wild Things Are' is visionary. Edit: The book's range may be broader than at first glance, I think it also addresses trauma, at whatever age.
I also really loved the movie. Max in that was a seriously traumatized kid, dealing with (presumably) the death of his father. I had a friend who hated it because Max was so very bad. But exploring trauma and pain is super important for kids. They _will_ experience it and media like "Where the Wild Things Are" gives them tools to understand it.
Maybe I'm weird (no, scratch that; I _know_ I'm weird), but I always thought the monsters in the book seemed friendly and a lot of fun. I never read it as a kid because I was eight when it was published and a little old for it but I did read it as an adult and enjoyed it immensely. If I were Max, I wouldn't want to leave.
Or how I got to read George's Marvelous Medicine when I was in middle school. My little brother got to read The Witches during middle school, and my mom helped him. I would hear my mom narrate the tale, and it did scare me as a kid whenever I got curious. Years later, I like getting scared either through old Gothic literature, modern horror movies, or mixed media video games. They scare me, but I always liked it.
My mother’s master’s thesis was about Maurice Sendak, and she spent a week with him to discuss his monsters. I didn’t realize as a small child that the drawings of monsters in our downstairs library were actually Sendak originals. I was able to have wonderful conversations with my mother about this book once I got old enough to understand.
I’m a Brazilian English teacher, and in one of our many literary presentations I adapted this book into a musical. Some parents were worried, some were confused, but all of them loved to see their little monsters sing in English.
I was given this book when it was first published in the UK and I loved it. There was a very limited moral panic about it. Mostly from people who hadn't even seen it and didn't have children. The Brothers Grimm had very scary and gruesome stories. Red hot iron shoes, being ripped to pieces inside a barrel of spikes etc.
Oh boy if thats isnt usually how it goes, people without children refusing to watch or read something then lecture us about why the government needs to these random people to bring back censorship
And alicein wonderland beyond the looking glass. I was fascinated by the Jaberwocky. No more monsters for me Minneapolis Simpkin. Oh and the Grimm fairytales.
Good take. I never found the monsters in the least bit scary when I was a kid though, they weren't human so they were much LESS scary, they tried but easily failed, and were friendly and let the kid feel his feelings and go through it. I never thought of it as a story about overcoming any sort of fear, the kid in the story had no fear of them to overcome, but a story of acceptance in spite of appearances, how you can make friends with people (or monsters) through shared experiances and emotions rather than based on how different they might look. I just never saw anything dark at all about it, it was beautiful and vibrant and exploratory and freeing.
On the first day of my Writing About Literature course in college, our professor read us Where the Wild Things Are, and we spent the rest of class having a discussion about its themes. It was the first time I had ever read the book, despite knowing about it all my life. While I didn't necessarily enjoy that class, I still feel grateful to that professor for introducing me to this book, which has since become my favorite.
As someone who had an active imagination as a boy I can kind of relate to Max. I would yell at my parents and pull pranks sometimes around the house. I do wonder if Max has ADD. Could you have relate to Max if you read this book when you were a boy?
@@huntercoleman460 Oh, absolutely. Hell, I relate to Max now, the only real difference being that I know when to reign it in so that it's funny and social instead of "disruptive."
@@TheDuckOfManyThings I think we all have a little Max in us. Especially those who are creative and have a good imagination. I relate to Max too. There will always be that imaginative little boy we all were once in us don’t you agree?
This story resonated deeply with me, as a kid who had an overactive imagination, and a lot of unprocessed emotions. I still think fondly of my wild things, and occasionally return to be their king for a night or two in my dreams.
I loved this book so much as a kid that my 77 year old mother still comments on it today! She tells me that we went through multiple copies from reading it so often at bedtime. I remember walking into a comic shop in my 20s and the utter joyous shock that someone had made action figures of Max and the Wild Things. I found the money to take them home and still treasure them, decades later!
Like Aurelio Voltaire says in his song "Goodnight Demonslayer": "The monsters are real but then not in your dreams Learn what you can from the beasts you defeat You'll need it for some of the people you meet"
This was just the video I needed to watch after a difficult nap time routine with my toddler. Wasn't expecting sound parenting advice but it was greatly appreciated. He loves spooky things (age appropriate) and we talk about our "big emotions" all the time. I'm excited to add this book to our story time rotation!
One of the very very best books, ever. And honestly the 2009 movie? Spot-on, expanding on the book in ways that only a movie can do, and exploring even MORE fears. The scene where the sort-of female monster says "I'll eat you up"? It's both incredible and terrifying, in the same moment and for some of the same reasons too. I could go on for ages about this book AND about the movie. I was a grown woman when I saw the film and yet for the space of Max's adventure, I was eight years old again, the world was full of frustration and rage, I was a Wild Thing again and loving it. And yet I wanted to go home too. And the single line at the end of the book has always, always stayed with me. "And it was still hot." That means so much more than just a warm meal waiting for him. It means his mother loves him, even if he is a Wild Thing. It speaks safety and care and being treasured. I couldn't explain, when I was eight, why that line, that page, made me cry. Now I know why, and it makes me cry harder to fully understand what Max knew that I didn't.
Wonderful narrative on a wonderful book! It constantly amazes me that there are people who allow (or push) kids to read (frequently terrifying!) bible stories, but can’t recognise that young people need and enjoy scary tales, especially when they have a safe or happy resolution. Many people who survived childhood trauma got through because of monster-y fiction and fantasy. The levels of literary censorship around what people are able to deal with is frightening, especially considering the evils that are highlighted on the daily dinnertime news. I would give a kid Where The Wild Things Are (and the monsters of Dr Who!) any day over exposure to TV news.
I remember reading about How Maurice Sendak sent a young fan who wrote him a letter an original drawing and the child's mother wrote back to tell him the kid loved it so much he ate it. Sendak insisted it was the greatest compliment he had ever received.
I loved this book as a child and identified with Max as millions of others did. It was a relief to know that 'mum' had something to eat and that no matter what gnashing of teeth or terrible claws, if there be monsters, if Max be the monster, Max was loved. I read it to my own children. Children are people and this book treats them as such and somehow we sometimes forget just how much they know. Little people appreciate this.
Wow, I haven’t read this book in so long that I’m surprised that I can recall that entirely, thanks to you, Dr. Zarka. From this summary, it makes sense of why the story is the way it is because it reflects our inner desires to be loose and carefree. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve always felt that I was more connected with the animals that I learned throughout my life than people. If I had the chance to see all the natural wonders and the creatures that call it home, I’d take it because nothing would make me happier than being one with nature.
As a child I was scared of everything. (There was a picture of a demon looking through French Doors in a kids’ book I saw in 1st grade. 41 years later it still freaks me out to be alone at night in my parents’ living room.) Nevertheless, I was never frightened on these monsters. I didn’t even know they were supposed to be scary until watching this video. They are all smiling giant muppets. I’m pretty sure there is a muppet that looks like the main guy. And Cookie Monster, Grover, and Telly are all monsters (cf there’s a monster at the end of this book.) Looking back, I never thought they represented fear or lived in a scary place. I always thought they represented Max’s energy, defiance, hyperactivity, anger, and indignation. He goes to a land where he is unburdened of stricture and finds his people. Though he ultimately tires of it mentally and physically. Really nothing scary about that.
Some of my earliest memories are from a kindergarten Where The Wild Things Are play I was in. I remember us making our wild thing costumes and having so much fun being monstrous on stage. It was a great experience
This book confused me as a young child. I couldn't understand how his dinner was still warm after he had been gone for so long. The trip took a year, each way.
I think you explained this beautifully. How you and Sendak talked about it is exactly how I saw it and connected with it; both as a child and later as a parent. I still love this book,and I thought the movie was brilliant!! Weird, sad, wild, moving, and beautiful. ❤
Kids get scared. Why act like that doesn’t happen or isn’t appropriate? As long as it’s age-appropriate, that’s exactly what children’s media should do. I think my dad loved reading this book to us more than we did. He loved harumphing around and acting out the ruckus with us. He always loved watching our movies and shows with us. I think it’s because his childhood took place in post WW2 Greece and subsequent civil strife. I don’t think he got much a childhood, so books like this was a way to connect with us. Miss you dad ❤
I grew up with Earl Carle as a kid and my dad would always read Good Night Moon to me. It was such a wondrous time whenever he was in my bedroom as a kid. I know how it feels to lose a dad, but know that he's always with you on spirit. You're his little one, and he'll always love you.🫂🫂
It's so surreal to me that this book was banned for being "top scary." When I was a kid, I LOVED this book. I didn't think the monsters were scary at all. They were silly to my eyes, and even as a kid, I realized they taught Max a valuable lesson about life. It was a book my mother and I bonded over; she always told me "no matter what you do, I'll always be here for you. I may not like your actions, but I will ALWAYS love you."
I was the most timid and fearful kid, and I loved Where the Wild Things Are. I never once thought it was scary. Many of my other favorite stories as a kid have also been demonized: The Velveteen Rabbit, The Snow Cat, and The Last Unicorn. Kids are stronger than many adults give them credit for, and it's important for them to learn about and process difficult emotions.
This movie was something else as a kid...and I only realise it now that I've grown up because back then it was fun but also quite scary and creepy. I would still watch it with joy though
I never knew there ever was any controversy or banning of it. It must be one of the first books I can ever remember having read to us in school, people thought there was a real harm in it? I probably shouldn't be surprised, the more things change the more they stay the same.
Saying that children shouldn't be allowed to experience fear, a very basic human emotion, is to deny the reality of life. The world is a scary, big place when one is little. It only marginally improves as one gets bigger.
I loved this book! I don't really love horror or gore, but I don't mind spooky or creepy. And I think both the book and the film are a great representation on how a child views and processes daily scary things that happen in real life (parents separated, adult anger, personal things getting destroyed, etc). We all will experience some form of trauma unfortunately. It's how we learn to confront it is what matters.
I read the book as a little kid and the movie came out when I was a little older but still young. I liked the book, I wouldn’t say it was my fave but it was a distinct memory of my childhood. The movie… is also a distinct memory but it creeped me out really bad. The part where someone loses their arm and like stuffing falls out and then they casually replace it with a twig is absolutely scarred into my mind LOLLL. I might be a bit of an exception bc unlike most kids I was more than happy to be kept from scary movies and stuff like that. I def don’t speak for all kids tho because I know the book was my older cousin’s absolute fave and he says he really loved the movie.
It’s easy to rail against the adults who spoke against this book but the irony is that they’re pretty afraid themselves. They’re afraid that their kids could end up messed up by some sort of fear-induced trauma. Like Max, they’re experiencing their own “big feelings”. It’s just theirs don’t make them want to bite and scratch and howl at the moon.
This is still my favorite book. Better any novel I have read. I never found this book scary. I found this book beautiful. I had a hard childhood so I can relate to this book.
As a non-American my only exposure to this story was through that Simpsons episode featuring them, but it looks like a cool story and I wholeheartedly agree with the author's statement at the end. I grew up looking for scary things and with deep themes covered by the media of my age I watched and read; nowadays kids are way too much shielded.
I was like 4 when I first read it and I hated it. I thought less words would be easier to read but I couldn't follow what was going on. There was something there everyone older than me got that I knew I was missing. The art was downright terrifying but I couldn't look away because it was amazing a picture could make me feel that fearful. I also really liked how he became friends with the scary monsters. At that age when I was still scared about the monster under my bed, I'd much rather be friends with him if that's an option. So silly things like that became less scary. At 4 I thought the moral was suppose to be don't judge on appearance and that's how I knew I was missing something. Still a good moral though, funny how some things just stick with you.
Yeah and he's called a wild thing which is from the Yiddish word Vildehya which literally means wild thing... I remember this book from my childhood and the fact that it didn't scare me was because I had experienced real monsters not made up monsters like in a history his imagination, and I understood much of where he was coming from because you have to understand a little bit of the background to get some of it the subtitles that are inside the story. It's as much about facing your fears as it is understanding that your imagination can run away with you, and that you have to be the master of your imagination, people have read a lot of things in the story and have talked about its representation since I can remember. I can remember how people will controversial about the whole Max and his behavior but I think they missed the point and I was a kid when I made my point to a bunch of grown ups who were thinking this sort of thing and said know what it's saying is because he's behaving that way he himself is taken up to his room and punished by being told he's going to bed and he imagines he's going to bed without supper at first and he imagines other things but he eventually learns that he can't get carried away that way he cannot behave that way he has to learn that that is not going to be acceptable and it's perfectly right in fact he goes and has his wild rumpus in his own imagination and then comes back because he realizes that he did indeed behave badly and he wouldn't want to live there forever and you know it teaches him as much about his own behavior he did wrong he sees he did wrong and it makes him think about it... The way he saw the punishment his parents gave him was so much better than the way most kids punishments were at the time their parents often believed spare the rod spoil the child I grew up in that kind of situation and the book came out 3 years before I was born some a lot older than most people who are reading it and I can tell you that when it was written that was the attitude and he was writing from the point of view of somebody who'd already grown up with that attitude and thought there was a better way the fact is in his book The kid isn't given a slap on the behind and then put in his room he is merely picked up and put in his room.
I don't know if you take suggestions from comments, but the tatzelwyrm was something I was aware of as a kid and had appeared in some media I watched as a child, just curious what you might dig up on the creature
Do believe I've seen all your videos, but have you ever done the Anthropophagus? Reading a novel about hunting them at the moment that is good fun. The Monstrumologist
I mean, the important thing is, it is not the adult's right to decide what is too scary for a child, the child decides that. What definitely would not be ok to confront children with things they do not want to confront. But yes, too many children have already seen too many scary things, in whatever sense, and have to and want to deal with that in their own ways. And a (scary) story can be that way.
This book didn't scare me as a child, probably because the monsters never seem to threaten Max, and he in turn expresses no fear of them. what definitely DID scare me was Dr. Seuss's Pale Green Pants With Nobody Inside 'Em.
I don't mind a PBS review of children's books, it could be its own series here, but why on Monstrum? There are millions of monsters, cryptids, folklore, mythical beasts, etc... around the world. I know you probably don't want to do some minute and a half video describing something very short or basic that is just a regional variant or a locally specific version of something or lacks publicly available information in great detail like making a video on Robert Roundcap or the Nibiinashe, or something...or making it a series about every random haunting. But there are still plenty with longer backstories out there this series hasn't covered yet, or approach cultural universals that have specific variations like the prevalence of the supernatural bride (which has three variations, kidnapped bride, predatory entity, or inhuman being that snuck into a person's life), or the odd prevalence of wild women with long dresses and long wild hair as supernatural beings (most versions of which can easily carry their own episode, Vila, Sanzianna, Iele, Enchanted Moura, Wiite Wieven, etc... Honestly you could make a series just on Fae or Yokai and have plenty to work with.
This book is a childhood favorite! So what if it was a little scary? Not all children's books need to be sunshine and rainbows. I agree with Sendak, those who grumble can go to hell.
Maybe I'm misremembering my childhood, but I don't think I ever thought of the monsters as scary. They seemed about as threatening to 4yo me as Barney the purple dinosaur and Chuck E Cheese or the Tasmanian Devil from loony toons. How did parents think it was in anyway scary compared to any other children's entertainment?
This and Ezra Jack Keats’ Goggles are giving me ALL the feels… As a Civil (Environmental, before the split) engineering graduate I’m guessing these stories had a constructive impact.
At a glance, I could relate this with Momotaro from the Japanese folklore... But, maybe Max was not heroic like Momotaro, but mischievous like Crayon Shin Chan.
As a child I craved scary stories, urban legends, vampires and ghosts and skeletons. Was I scared? Hell yes! Did it traumatize me? No! If you put the production into the hands of people who produce childrens content they will know exactly where to draw the line. Children are not idiots. They don't want to watch the media equivilent of a padded cell. They need stimulating, thought provocing media too.
So we make an instruction manual for the adults; "How To Read" Where The Wild Things Are". Explaining its meaning and goals and then let those adults read the book TOGETHER with their children? Could that work?
