let the wild rumpus begin!

Those words have been with me for 27 years, since the birth of my first son, Nick, as well as Cortney and Alex.  My book of choice to read to my kids was “Where the Wild Things Are” by Maurice Sendak, which has been made into a movie by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggars. 

When I heard this book was being made into a movie, I worried the joy, the danger, the curiosity, the explorative nature of young Max would be harnessed, that it would be sanitized to something less powerful and less meaningful.

Instead, they used the book as a jumping off place, a point of reference, but staying true to the real heart of the book, while exploring very adult themes of anger, compassion, jealousy, cynicism, loss, and love.

Very similar to Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz”, Max takes us through his mystical world with characters only seen in Max’s mind doing things only Max could think.  Where Dorothy’s journey comes through a dream sequence from a bump on the head, Max’s happens after biting his mother in a temper tantrum and running off to this secret world in his mind.

And, both stories end with both being drawn home, and to the love of family. After all, there is no place like home.