So, I was misled. Where the Wild Things Are is not in the public domain. It *would* have been if not for the pesky 1976 Copyright Act. So, basically, nobody better snitch! Just kidding, I'm sure it'll be fine. More importantly, let me know what you thought of the video, and feel free to suggest other books you'd like to see me cover!
Hi, I'd want to suggest something though I'm not sure if you or others will like it. We read the book “Looking for Alaska” by John Green in religion class at school, and as a young girl it touched me so much at the time that, to this day, I'm afraid to revisit the book, but maybe your voice would make it bearable.
I enjoy that Max's wild wolf is white - non threatening and innocent. Kind of signifying that Max's wildness isn't in fact a bad thing, its a child thing
@@nathanael.higgerson to children? Yeah typically. Hell to many adults… yes. Ever had Christian parents and said you got into D&D or became a goth or played Pokemon?
I always loved the subtle characterization of the mother. Especially how, in certain ways, she reminds me of my own mother. The dinner being placed there as a small “I’m sorry, I acted harshly” ends up being nearly nostalgic. Times when my mother yelled at me or punished me, only to seek me out after to apologize. I was almost always deserving of some type of correction, she just acknowledged that she didn’t handle it with the best type of correction. I always appreciate this about my mother, as it taught me to emulate that attitude of owning up to mistakes honestly.
That's super validating as a now parent who still remembers being a kid clearly, its weird how there isnt a point in your life where a switch flips to "you are a mature adult now". Having kids made me realize how immature I was/am in many ways and really helped me think more about my actions and how they are experienced by others.
this comment reminds me why i never liked this children's book as a kid, because it only hits home if you grow up in a well adjusted family. my family basically resembled the 'malcom in the middle' show but worse, so the ideal of returning home from fantasy land due to missing family... just never hit me as a kid. kinda hard to miss something "better" that doesn't really exist.
8:00 "they absolutely loved it despite generally thinking it as scary" - I don't think it's 'despite', the thrill of it being a bit scary and complex and touching on themes of childhood power and love, is why kids enjoy the story. Stories are for being scared, and for exploring all kinds of feelings, safely.
Exactly! Feeling scared and facing your fears through imagination is such an important thing for kids. It helps teach them and let's them grow up braver and more prepared for the scary things in the real world. It makes me sad when parents want to completely shield their kids from everything, because it prevents them from growing up
Did I miss a note about how the illustrations grow? At the start, the words had their page and the illustrations have their small window on the other. As Max’s imagination takes over, the illustrations grow on their page, spill onto the other, and push out the text until the Wild Rumpus is all there is. Then the illustrations shrink, the words return, and the hood comes off. The words have their page, and the illustrations have theirs, but a full page of their own. And we end with words. We can see Max letting it all out in their room, and we can see Max wanting to go back to their mom, and we can see their mom finding space for Max to be themself, and we end on Max’s mother’s warmth.
The book is a chiasmus, with its apex in the three full page illustrations of the wild rumpus. I love everything about the book. The way that it builds and then recedes, both in its art and language (like the lengthening time intervals as he sails out that are reversed as he comes home), is just part of what makes it so amazing. It breaks me every time I read, "And it was still hot."
This is a tough subject for me. I’ll be honest, I never had a single children’s book read to me growing up; not a great childhood. Many years later I watched “Where the wild things are” in cinema, I sobbed by the end. Hearing you read the book brought back that same sadness. It’s difficult to describe my longing for the course correction of a regretful parent, to know that behind those moments of imperfection or harsh treatment there remained a deep love for you, even if they struggled to express it. Edit: I’m so grateful to all who’ve shared their stories or provided thoughtful responses under the replies, it is truly heartwarming to hear all of your experiences. And yes, I shall be reading my kids this and plenty other stories before bed and on cold winter days. Just before I head off, a friendly PSA to anyone reading this who survived an abusive upbringing: Our parents wronged us, we’ve promised to never be like them; but don’t over correct in the opposite direction. Smothering to avoid neglect is neglect of the child’s needs all the same, same vice versa. We have to be the Homebase to which our children can run back to when the feel overwhelmed exploring this world. Be an open but warm embrace, not a distant wave or a suffocating grasp ❤️
It's a powerful movie and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I think some adults thought it was "too deep" for kids, but it's just as imaginative in portraying how a child "thinks" and "feels".
I’ve been struggling with this feeling a lot now that I’m 25 and I didnt really know how to put it into words. “Its difficult to describe my longing for the course correction of a regretful parent”. With being 25 and getting married next year I know now that I will never see that from my parents and thats hard.
My parents were pretty awful when I was young. But they were going through a Whole Lot and they didn't have the best childhoods either to put it mildly. The one thing that both sets of my grandparents had was they always tried to become better people and learn more even when they got older. Neither set ever gave up. They passed that on from their parents to my parents, and to me I hope. My parents never stopped trying to be the best parent they could to me where I was at that time. Whether they succeeded or not, I give them credit for the TRYING and not giving up. They were messed up just like we all are, but they gave their best. So even though my childhood was so awful in so many ways, by the time they died both of them had healed most of the damage(or at least healed all the pain and resentment I had felt) they had done by just trying to be the best person they could right then.. even if it wasn't that great they still tried. And honestly my mom was really much greater of a person than I actually knew or understood when I was a kid. I feel lucky. How many people had awful childhoods and terrible parents and never get an honest "I'm sorry...."
@@lisa2stewartwhat you said really spoke to me!! It reminds me so much of my mother but in the opposite way. She was so loving and caring to me or atleast that's what I believed when I was younger but the truth of the matter is that she was a backstabber and manipulator willing to do ANYTHING TO GET HER WAY!! The thing is she really does love and care for me as her favourite but that's probably part of her narcissistic personality showing. They always have a favourite child after all but the truth of the matter is that she has done some terrible things to my family specifically to my sister and dad. She is someone who is very good at pretending to be innocent and make you look like the victim. She can never accept herself being at fault and boy did she have a temper. One that could make a grown man cower!! The thing is she claims to be sorry for what she did to this family but she never changes her ways. She will do the same thing again and again and again and again and again. She is so good at being pitifully and meek cause she truly believes that. She'll never understand why her family left her even favorites son who stood by her side and atleast believed and still sort of does that he truly loved his mother. She was just too toxic to this family that we had to leave her. The point I'm trying to say is that your parents are better than my mom cause they actually tried to change their ways while she'll never change and she'll never reflect on why she is alone in this world which I think is the greatest tragedy of them all.
imo, the reason this book resonates with so many people is because it doesn't really beat around the bush. despite it's simplicity, it treats it's readers, both young and old, with respect, and it doesn't hold your hand like a lot of the books contemporaries. ESPECIALLY picture books. i still love this book to this day and i think it's one of the few pieces of media that is unanimously liked.
I’ve always interpreted “I’ll eat you up” as an expression of need. Like, I am hungry for your attention and perhaps angry that I don’t have it. This fits well with the destructive behavior that could at least in part be a cry for attention. It also explains why the wild things followed “eat you up” with love you so”.
I love this insight! It then ties in nicely with his mother at first withholding food and then in the end giving it to him, as a metaphor for her doing the same thing with her love and attention - by giving him dinner, she is also giving him the attention that he needs as much as he needs food.
Definitely check out the film. It not only pays wonderful tribute to the book, but the changes Spike Jonze made are just as abstract and "out there" as Sendak's book. Sendak apparently loved the movie and had told Jonze, "Be Dangerous because that's how I made the book. As much as the book is me, the movie must be You."
I vaguely remember finding the last line of the book strange as a younger. A whole page to itself, nothing to distract from it, and all it says is "and it was still hot", which doesn't really add anything to what we just read- that max came back to find his supper waiting for him, but this essay actually got me to realize how important that ending is for the book as a whole. It makes the book, to some extent, about *forgivness* both from parents to their children, and from children to parents by emphasizing that the food he was given after he and his mother stopped being angry at eachother was still hot- it hadn't gotten cold or soggy or worse because of their fight, it was still hot, still good. They still love eachother a lot, and getting angry at eachother didn't change that. That a beautiful subtlety of the book. I should make sure I get my 1 year-old nephew a copy.
Because I come from a different culture, this is my first time hearing of this book. It reminds me so much of the relationship I have with my mother. That part where the article mentioned that good parents give their children second chances was my breaking point and made me tear up. Your interpretations summed up mine perfectly, I often think about the fact that kids will often act the same way as their predecessors did, even if they don't want to admit it. I see the Wild Things as the kids of future Max, as they perfectly capture the way Max's mom describes him. Thank you for this video.
I remember taking the book out as kid. Maybe when I was like six or seven. It didn't really scare me. But I always wished I was Max. There was a part of me that wanted to escape the world and go into my own imagination. even at that young an age. It made me want to be somewhere else. Later when the movie came out I wanted to go see it. My divorced parents agreed to both go with me and my brother. The movie was so upsetting to me and my brother we cried in the theater, at the restaurant we went too after, and that night when we got home. Upsetting in a good way too. We resonated with it. It was the first time we really let a movie get under our skin like that. It made me look at the book differently. It made me want to go deeper into my imagination. Maybe in a way it lead me to wanting to be a creative type. I saw monsters, and I also something that looked better than what I had. I also wasn't allowed to pick what movies we watched any more, since I always picked the ones that made everyone cry.
Even as a kid, even if I didn’t have the ability to articulate it at the time, the story felt like a kid struggling to control his impulses, Max uses visual metaphor because he doesn’t have any other way to articulate what he’s feeling. He travels to his inner world of the wild where there is no authority telling him what to do, and when he gets there he’s greeted by a bunch of wild things that act on what ever impulse they have. The first thing he does when he meets them is assert dominance over them, which is him asserting that he is in control of his own actions. Then he indulges the impulses, but after a while he grows tired of them and tells them to stop. When they don’t want to he punishes them, giving him the power over his impulses, not just the ring leader of them, and so having taken control of his impulses, he returns to the real world, where he’s greeted with the food he was denied earlier for not being able to control his impulses.
The movie provides me with a sense of solace. It is my escape to be "THE wild thing." After a stressful evening or a cruddy test, the movie lets me escape to feel free and to let my emotions run. Although this video isn't about the movie, the book provides that same feeling. The movie only has more visuals and sounds that enrapture me in a world where one can yell and scream to just be free and not care what people think.
This book is likely the reason I love fantasy worlds that are all monsters. Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and of course Humans are rejected out of hand. Just be the monster, humans are... far worse.
15:42 I justst realised that this part was also used in Alt-j's 'Breezeblocks' "Please don't go, I'll eat you whole I love you so, I love you so, I love you so" Felt good making that connection!
This reminds me of something Jacob Geller said in his video "Every Zelda is the Darkest Zelda"; "part of being a kid is wondering why a grown-up is crying while reading a book about a tree out loud [he was talking about The Giving Tree, I think], and a part of being an adult is being the crying reader." I think the older I get, the more love I have for children's media - and the more important I believe it to be. It's such a great way to send a genuinely sweet message.
i feel like my parents (or reading rainbow lol, blends together) would read about the wild things with the emphasis on the roars and gnashing and etc, that whole bit. it made it fun and that’s how i’ve read it ever since! the bit where you talk about the wilderness made me think oh, that’s like the hero’s journey! going from the known world to the unknown world, and then returning a better person/armed with knowledge/etc. great video and i loved all the interpretations you shared!
This video was the reason I found out Maurice Sendak was gay. I'm sobbing right now because it's so wonderful to know that such a good and wonderful man who is so beloved shared that trait with me, even if he died before I ever discovered that part of myself. I'm so glad I live in this world.
This book meant so much to me as a kid. It was tied with the Giving Tree as my favorite book. The movie is criminally overlooked. It’s beautifully shot and the way it adapts this simple story into an hour long film is amazing.
lovely video! this is a book i never understood (despite its simplicity) but the images always stuck with me and gave me a unique feeling. thanks for sharing!
I played Max in a version of the book for stage in first grade. I was reciting it as you read. I love how there's this chidlike unreality to book. Your reflections on that one word, "and"... ring very true.
I know, me too! I always found it really unpleasant as a kid. I guess I just didn't get it, but I really really disliked it. I still very much do not have fond memories of it.
Another great video, I didn’t have much of a connection to this book as a kid tbh but this video helped me understand why others might like it so much.
I never felt particularly drawn to this book as a little kid. I was very well behaved, and found wild things and children who admired them distasteful and confusing. I understood the theoretical sadness of being sent to bed with no dinner, but very little else. Actually, I was in the habit of inflicting the same punishment on my dolls (my children), despite never receiving it from my own parents. Now, as a teenager, I have more sympathy for Max. Maybe this is a very simple and obvious interpretation, but to me the main conflict is about true self and false self. Max seems to be very young, and he and his mother are just starting to navigate his transition from a near-toddler to an emotionally and socially aware person. Max has big feelings and a lot of creativity, and it’s frustrating to him that his mother would vilify impulses that bring him excitement and allow him to express himself. The story has a lot of respect for this side of Max, which I think shows respect to the children hearing it. However, Max has to learn that the wild part of him simply won’t always be compatible with other people. He might be too young to feel the effects of his actions on his mother, but he clearly comes to understand that even though his mother still loves him best when he behaves like a monster, ignoring the rules she needs to feel safe and respected around him will prevent him from staying close with her, represented by his journey and return home. Neither of them are quite in the right and neither are entirely in the wrong. Both children and adults need to work together to manage and express their emotions without trampling the other’s, or else they will struggle to connect and feel accepted. In retrospect, I might have benefited from taking inspiration from Max and exploring my more selfish and disruptive desires during that phase through make-believe, instead of solely fixating on praise and punishment even while playing alone. Where the Wild Things are is most beautiful to me because it illustrates to children that a little wildness is natural, without calling it good or evil. It shouldn’t be lived in all the time and it shouldn’t be condemned, it is just special, because it is a part of you and you deserve for someone to love you best of all.
That's really well said! I loved the book as a child even though I also was well behaved, at least on the outside. Part of it was obviously the beautiful illustrations, and the depiction of a child's imagination, but narrative really captured my heart too. I remember pretending that I ruled over a land of dinoaur-like monsters, inspired by the pattern on my pillow. I didn't connect it at the time with Where the Wild Things Are, but looking back on it, there was probably some bit of the book that always lived in my brain, quietly giving me perspective on the world. I wish there were more books like it; even though that would make it less unique, it would be no less special.
Wow. Your comment is super well written. It gives quite an insight, and leaves me thinking about even deeper things than I normally do as I revisit this book and story that I love so much. Check out Christopher Watkins reading of this book, you will love it.
I loved this book when I was a little girl, still do! I was kind of bummed that he went home, I wanted him to stay wild. I thought the wild things were adorable, not scary and just right, because wild is the best way to be.
i don’t remember how the book affected me as a child, but the soundtrack from the movie was a really formative part of it. for YEARS my favorite song was All Is Love-i have clear memories of playing it to get to sleep one night, and even more of going on long walks as an 8/9 year old while listening to the soundtrack on my moms ipod. i was actually upset when i learned it was from a movie the first time lol. i didn’t watch the movie until late adolescence and i watched it again a couple years ago and it remains one of the pieces of media that has made me cry the most. the book means a lot to me too now, but in a way i couldn’t possibly communicate. i think i relate to it more now as a teenager than i ever did as a child, especially as an artist who can see the skill in the drawings. i would VERY heavily recommend the movie. it’s very different from the book (which is to be expected) but it is one of my favorite pieces of media. i should watch it again, it might make me cry even more this time. really good video btw!!
One of my favorite interaction between Maurice Sendak and his many fans, was when he sent a drawing of one of the monsters to a kid, to which the kid loved it so much he ate it whole, and Sendak took it as the biggest compliment of all.
One of my mother's many talents is knowing this book by heart. I have such dear memories of sitting with her and her reciting it from memory as if it were a poem, not a book. To this day she's still able to repeat each word, permanently ingrained into her mind and soul, and if thats not a testament to how wonderful the story is, that someone loved it so much she read it so many countless times she simply committed it to memory, I dont know what else could be
I'm not ashamed to admit I teared up through this video. This book was always one of my favourites .. I've not read it in some time, and I didn't really expect it to get to me this much but here we are, I suppose
I’m only part way through the video so maybe this gets touched on, but I love the detail that going to where the wild things are is so quick but returning takes him so long. It’s easier to turn to fantasy and imagination than it is to escape it
I really love that parable. It really feels like a summary of what Christianity is SUPPOSED to be. Wether or not lots of people ignore it, there's a lot of good stuff in the bible.
great video and the analysis! I never had the book as a kid, but once was taken on a school trip with my classmates to see the movie; I remember after it ended and we were waiting for a bus outside our teacher asked what we thought the movie was about, and I was the only one who wanted to answer and discuss it (as the others already got busy chatting about other stuff); so I think my favourite thing about it actually was that moment of connecting with an adult and having a "serious" discussion about a piece of art together!
Wow, it's been forever since I've revisited Where The Wild Things Are. This video has got me to remember a conversation I had with my sister when we were god-knows-how-young about Max's father. We (being children of divorce) both quickly came to the conclusion that he must have been living with his mother then, although it didn't occur to me at the time that this may have been an example of something like the "visit by the divorced dad" trope. It's an oddly happy memory, I'm glad to have it back!
On the last flip through it hit me that the illustrations slowly grow to take more of the page until they spill out into the other page, and then shrink back. Cool editing detail
it is definitely worth looking into “breezeblocks” by alt-j. the song abstracts “i’ll eat you whole, i love you so” through the lens of toxic affection-loving someone so much you’d rather hurt them they let them go. the music video is phenomenal storytelling, visceral and gripping. quite a unique deconstruction of concepts the book dips into.
I never thought too much about my favorite children's book, but this one is my mom's favorite, and one of my favorite movies is the adaptation. I actually have an old shirt of art from the book that used to be my mom's. I relate to Max a lot, creative, loneliness, I struggled with my emotions a lot and had argued with my mom a lot, and my parents are divorced. There is more from the movie too. I still struggle with emotional regulation at times and my mom and I still argue on occasion, but it has gotten a lot better with therapy and working on communication. My mom wasn't the best parent when I was younger, but now I see her learning and doing better with my little brother. (That little brother actually had a Wild Things themed first birthday.) She has also apologized for past actions and has been saying sorry more often after arguments or her anger outbursts. (It used to be really just me apologizing.) It's quite fitting how we both like Where The Wild Things Are, whether it be the book or the movie, I think we probably both think of each other when thinking of it. If you haven't seen the movie, I do think it is worth checking it out. Not everyone who watches it seems to really get it, but I think you would based on this analysis.
I read the story to my kid many years ago. I didn't attempt to analyze it too much but I did enjoy the meter and illustrations. My child seemed to enjoy it but never asked me me to read it again. I wouldn't place it on a list of best children's literature. I did enjoy your exploration of it. Thanks!
4:00 When my mom read this book to me and got to the wild rumpus, she would shake the book back and forth and chant “rumpus, rumpus, rumpus! Rumpus, rumpus, rumpus!” And it was years before I realized there were no words on those pages-
this book really used to scare me as a kid. the movie terrified the hell out of me. watching it now, and reading it now, i just feel sad. it’s so melancholic.
I've always been more of a Giving-Tree-type-gal, but this video really touched me and I have a renewed appreciation for this children's book. It really is a masterpiece in understanding growth and love in the most profound way. I think a lot of parents wonder and worry whether their children love them and how they love them, and i think this book is an expression of a child's love for his mother purely from a child's perspective.
I used to be a preschool teacher. This was my favorite book to read to my classes; kids love and understand the story. One of my favorite memories of teaching was working with a 2 year old boy who was just learning how to speak; he would ask me specifically for the story by saying, “Max?” It’s still my gold standard for picture books
A couple of things stand out to me in your reading. First, the "WILD THING"..."I'LL EAT YOU UP" exchange doesn't necessarily seem like a negative exchange, and (at least without the "going to bed without dinner" part) could be seen as the mom playing along. In addition to this, the line is "so he was sent to bed without eating anything," which doesn't necessarily mean his mom denied him food, just that he didn't eat it. Perhaps his mom tried to get him to eat for hours but he was too busy dancing around and she finally gave up? Second, Max sends the monsters to bed without their supper for no reason. Like, they were doing what he told them to do, then stopped when he told them to stop. Maybe he doesn't understand his mother's motives? I've always interpreted the story as a kid doing two things. On a basic level he's trying to kill time because he's stuck in his room, so he engages in some fantasy play. On a deeper level, he's just been made to feel powerless, so he invents a fantasy world where he can feel powerful. At the end he either 1) realizes that power isn't all it's cracked up to be and it's fun to be a kid for a while or 2) gets distracted because his mom brought him dinner and he's a hungry kid.
i love this book. i still have memories of reading this book as a kid. my mom used to quote the book, saying 'i'll eat you up i love you so!' and it makes me smile whenever i think about it. i watched the movie for the first time about a year ago and cried. it's one of those movies that makes you remember we're all going through life together, and it's ok to have feelings. we can work things out, and it will be ok in the end, even if it's bittersweet
As a kid I always loved the fact that Maurice Sendak did his own illustrations too in addition to the stories. Carl Barks did the same with his Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck comics that I grew up reading, J.R.R. Tolkien did that with The Hobbit and Letters From Father Christmas, Akira Toriyama did that for the longest time in his manga series, most notably Dragon Ball, Rumiko Takahashi did her own story and art in her manga series, as did Hiromu Arakawa. These authors fall into a unique position of not just literary influences but also artistic influences. I myself wrote and illustrated my own books, and I have them and many other authors to thank for that stimulation from different sources, styles, and even philosophies.
The balance between imagination and reality reminds me a lot of Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes. So does Max’s misbehavior/ general rowdiness. Obviously Calvin and Hobbes isn’t poetry, but I’d be curious on your feelings about it. It impacted my childhood a lot
as a former lil runnin away ass boy, this book very much hit me, i always took it as a story about how you dont need to be so scary, be vulnerable and sweet, let love in your life, a very important especially for wild little boys
I also have not read this book since childhood. Thank you for this video! I actually found some printouts of pages of the book that I plan to frame and hang up in my future child's bedroom.
Your RU-vid channel and its videos are fantastic. The insight into the author's lives- and experiencing these stories again has been a positive experience. As I turn twenty this year, these stories are cathartic. I don't remember much from my childhood- (mostly playing video games and hating School,) and these videos have helped me be more content with what I do because the joy I had in remembering that the boy's name was Max felt so pure lol. Recalling these stories so clearly and now being able to view it as an adult makes me appreciate them and thosewho read to me as a kid.
your writing is impeccable, and your ability to both notice seemingly tiny details, analyze them, and blend it with real world reactions to the book is truly remarkable. my only note is that your voice can often be monotone, and may create a barrier to a larger audience. keep it up though! i think that writing is a harder skill to learn than having a more upbeat voice, so you’re absolutely on the right track. loved this!
I loved *_Where the Wild Things Are_* when I was little. It's an important book for children. It tells children that even if you are wild and rambunctious, you will be forgiven, and will get your supper.
The background you give of Sendak’s childhood illnesses really put this story in perspective. Also, I’ve always wondered about Max’s relationship with his mom. Does she regularly punish him like this? What effect will this “experience” have on him going forward?
When I was 3 I could recite the whole book by heart. I couldn't actually read it, but I impressed people making them think I could. I even knew when to turn the pages
I’ve always felt like Max king of all wild things but without any subjects to rule and no way back home. As a child I left on a boat of escapism arrived to the island of disassociation. I found no wild things only a mirror for self reflection and now I know nothing more than my humble isle of parasitic paradise. I’ve become overgrown and dependent on the islands self polluting ecosystem I do long for home or what home used to be.
I was 4 when the movie came out, and had grown up until then reading the book and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and that book about Spencer. I felt mainly melancholic when watching the movie, a feeling I didnt get when reading the book. I am 20 now and I have yet to watch the movie again or read those childhood books, surely I will cry when I do so.
My interpitation of "we will eat you up, we love you so" is that it's what max really meant, he got sad becaus his mom yelled at him and lashed out in anger even tho he only wanted his mothers love.
i really love your videos, i appreciate how much research and thought you put into analyzing children's books especially, something that not enough people take seriously.
I'm somebody with a Where the Wild Things Are tattoo who has been saying that Where The Wild Things Are is the greatest children's book of all time for a while now. I am too emotionally volatile to finish the video right now, but Wild Things for me. aside from having some of the most visually pleasing character designs I've ever seen serves as a reminder to nurture the defiant and rebellious child I always was.
when i was 6 my grandma took me to see where the wild things are in theatre and the only part of it i remember is the two horned one(i think carol is his name in the movie) running down a sandy beach as max leaves and hes roaring and the scene moved me to tears.
The final line of this book never fails to make me cry. “And it was still hot.” There is so much love in that simple statement. Max can feel that his mother loves him despite her need to discipline him and it’s the reason he returned from his fantasy world.
@@bruhmoment5974 First of all, yelling at your kid is a natural human response. I challenge you to find a parent on earth that has never raised their voice at their child. They do not exist. Children need to be disciplined. It is how they learn boundaries and learn to live within the confines of our society and it’s boundaries/laws. Second, the video clearly discusses the idea that the mother providing him with dinner is her atonement for making a mistake (which all parents have done at one point or another). The book is about two people who let their emotions run away with them but eventually come back together through mutual forgiveness. I find that lovely.
me and a friend of mine would just read this to each other and talk about how cool the monsters in it were. We knew nothing else about it other than the plot and art but still enjoyed it on our own, which I think kind of attests to how good it is
This book haunted my dreams as a child. I remember reading the book probably about once and not being able to sleep because of it. This was when I was like 6
Such an underrated story and even the film is amazing in my opinion its spike jonze's best film i need to go back and rewatch it, to this day the soundtrack and the film itself highly underrated
I feel like there’s some correlation in sendack trying to see angels out the window as a child by not blinking and max taming the wild things by not blinking once.
Oooh boy this one gave me a flood of emotions. Hadn't thought about this book in ages and I don't think I realozed until now how much of a great influence this book had on me.
The first time I was introduced to this book it was read aloud my my friend's mother. She used his rather unusual name for the name of the main character, which apparently she did every time she read it. Imagine my surprise when I read it myself another night to find an impostor in the book by the name of Max. Both he and I were raised by single mothers so the lack of father presence in the book felt very normal for our households.
Withholding food and drink from a child came from the days of farming where "you dont work, you dont eat." Was a societal rule. That children had to learn quick. The punishment outlasted the scociety it was needed in.
I don't know if it's because I'm tired, or that I'm sick, or if it just got to me that much but I was nearly sobbing at the end of this. Thank you, lol.
The interpretation of Max being the child of divorced parents seems like a common interpretation, as the movie does take note of that idea and makes it more explicit
Where the Wild Things Are has always been a very special book to me. The movie version was the first film I ever saw in theaters and although I don't remember the movie well, the book certainly stuck with me. It was always one of my favorites growing up! I liked it so much that my family has a print of one of the page spreads in our basement as well as a plush toy of one of the wild things! :)
as a kid who was so wild that i was put on mood stabilizers, i can't believe i dont remember this story. its really sweet and i would have for sure loved it as a kid. i was probably read it and just forgot though lol
This book always captivated me as a kid, and I remember seeing an animated adaptation of it(and a few other classic kids books) that was perfectly narrated. I still hear his voice whenever I read it
I never knew he was gay. As a queer aspiring author myself, this vidoe made me very emotional. Thank you for sharing, and for all of the research you did into a book a lot of people havent thought about in a long time
I kind of liked this book as a kid and kind of hated it. I liked the drawings of the wild things themselves, but I thought the story was really unsatisfying. It feels like he goes into the wild and then immediately turns around and goes back. I wanted to hear more about the wild. A lot of the messaging about his relationship with his mother went over my head and it seemed more like a condemnation of adventure or the desire to be wild. Like he thinks he wants something, goes there, and then immediately sees that it's horrible. The food at the end almost felt like a bribe, and I was kind of frustrated to see Max sell out because he got a little hungry. As an adult, I can understand a lot more of what was intended here, but I think it would be better to have more time spent in the wild and to have more of a clear reason why the wild things weren't fulfilling companions for him. That would have made it feel more like there may be a problem with these wild things, and not some problem fundamental with trying to be independent or adventurous in any way.
I never read where the wild things are as a kid. never watched the movie, nor any other adaptations. if I did, I either have no memory of it or such a hazy memory that it might as well not exist. experiencing this book for the first time as an adult is something that I don't know if many other people can relate to, but here's what I felt. while watching this video, I kept thinking back to when I was a kid, and my parents and I would get into fights, and I'd get upset at them and try (unsuccessfully) to "run away" from home. I say "run away" in quotes because the furthest I ever got was hastily shoving a bunch of clothes in a suitcase with the vague intention of leaving to go... somewhere. most likely if I'd ever actually succeeded in running off, I'd probably go to my grandparent's house since they lived just down the street. but in my mind, I was max, going off to the wilderness to never return. until, of course, my parents came into my room to find me shoving all my stuff in a suitcase and de-escalated the situation before helping me to put everything back in my drawers. max is just as relatable of a character to me as an adult as he probably would have been when I was a child. there's a max in all of us, somewhere
