Across a Year and Through a Day

When I was a kid, Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are was one of my favorite books. I never had my own copy, but I obsessively kept it tied up and checked out of the school library, literally, for like, years. It was that kind of book for every weird kid, I guess - every kid who didn't quite fit in here, never really felt at home inside the mendacity of the everyday life of a child. Every kid who felt like, secretly inside them, they could take care of things themselves, that they didn't really need grownups as much as grownups told them they did. It's all about the fearlessness, and audacity, and adventurous spirit of youth. It's about seeing more than is really there, and being right.

When I did grow up, and had kids of my own, it was the first book I made sure they read. I have two children, but I don't have one copy for them to share, or even two. There are copies floating around all over the place here. It's been read for countless bedtime stories, and like me, it's turned out to be one of their favorites. It's timeless, and beautiful, and the truest vision of childhood I've ever encountered.

So, I was understandably worried when I got wind of a film version, as all lovers of beloved books-to-film type projects are. I have to say, though, that after viewing this new trailer released by Warner Brothers a couple of days ago, I am hopeful. Very hopeful. Check it out:

26 March 2009