Day 100: Where the Wild Things Are

Our 100th book!  Hooray!  It feels like quite a milestone, even though we have many more great books to read and share before having a whole year's worth.  For our 100th book, I wanted to feature one of our all-time favorites and a must-have in any child's collection:  Where the Wild Things Are.  I doubt there are many people out there who have not heard of this book, and there are many reasons why it has been a classic since its publication in 1963.  Maurice Sendak's story about the fiercely independent and mischievous Max is a fabulous tribute to imagination, adventure, and love.  If you are unfamiliar with the story, young Max gets sent to his room without any supper one night, only to have his imagination take him on a wonderful journey to a faraway land.  "That very night in Max's room a forest grew and grew -- and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around 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."  Max soon becomes their king, proclaiming what has become perhaps the book's most famous line, "Let the wild rumpus start!"  He and his fellow wild things romp and roar and play and dance the nights away, but soon Max finds himself longing for the comforts of home.  I never get tired of reading this book with my little wild thing and love everything about it.  The illustrations are beautiful, the story is a joy to read, and I like that the wild things don't look too scary (despite roaring their terrible roars and gnashing their terrible teeth.)  In fact, I find they usually look rather silly and impish rather than fierce and frightening.  Some of our favorite pages are the three in the middle without any words, and my son loves to say, "What does that wild thing say?  What does that wild thing say?" as he points to the different beasts and we make up more of the story in the middle.  I can't help but smile when we read the line about Max being lonely and wanting to be "where someone loved him best of all" and my little monster says, "That's his Mum Mum."  As Max sails back over a year and in and out of weeks and through a day, he arrives back at his room to find his dinner waiting for him... "and it was still hot."  Where the Wild Things Are captures everything that is fun and wonderful and challenging about childhood for both parents and children.  The feelings and emotions Max experiences throughout the book are universal for children -- who hasn't, at one time or another, wanted to escape from household rules and be king for a day? -- and Sendak portrays this desire for independence wonderfully.  Most of all, I love the message that no matter how much trouble our wild things might get into, as parents, we will always love them.  If you haven't shared this classic with your own wild thing, please do!  This is one book that no child or parent should go without. 

Day 44: Little Bear's Visit

Along with the Frog and Toad, the Little Bear books are those which I remember most vividly and fondly from my childhood.  There are several in the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik, but Little Bear's Visit has to be my favorite.  I was thrilled to get this book for my son a while back and read it with him as my mother read it to me.  Like the other Little Bear "I Can Read" stories, this one has several "chapters" that flow nicely into one another:  Grandmother and Grandfather Bear, Mother Bear's Robin, Goblin Story, and Not Tired.  The stories are sweet and entertaining, and Maurice Sendak's illustrations are wonderful.  My son's favorite chapter is the Goblin Story and he loves to recite it aloud to me in between giggles.  "He got so scared that he jumped right out of his shoes!"  I love Mother Bear's Robin, too, and every parent will be able to relate to Not Tired, especially when reading it right before bed.  There is something about the combination of Sendak's soft, expressive illustrations and Minarik's endearing, charming stories that make the Little Bear books timeless classics.  As my son and I snuggled up to read Little Bear's Visit before bed last night, I knew it would be the perfect book to feature today.  My dad and stepmother had just come to visit for the day yesterday, so my little cubs were thrilled to have had a visit from their Grandma and Grandpa Bears.  We've been spending lots of time outside during these beautiful spring days and enjoying the company of our own families of robins in the yard.  And, we read the Goblin Story four times in a row last night, since my son, of course, is "never tired."  If you have rainy days ahead of you like we do this week, look for these next time you are at the library.  We're sure you and your little bear will love them!