So these thoughts crossed my mind this afternoon:
“So evidently someone’s made a movie out of this children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are. Must be after my time. I know that the made the Narnia books into a movie, but that’s really more of a young adult book. Isn’t this wild things book like a bedtime story book? I’m assuming that it must be, because I’d never heard of it before this year. I might have seen it in a book store, and the name Maurice Sendak is familiar, but I don’t know why.”
My childhood bedtime books were, Pat the Bunny, Pat the Cat, The King the Mice and the Cheese, Go Dog Go, and the Richard Scarry Dictionary.
I looked up Where the Wild Things are on Wikipedia and found it was first published in ’63 when I was one (count it! one). Since I could read The King the Mice and the Cheese when I was four (not bragging, it had elephants, which is almost my name) I think I missed the Wild Things generation.
I totally missed Goodnight Moon, and that would have been well before I was born. Until I just looked it up I thought it was a ’90s book.
While I found the Storybook Dictionary delightfully literate, the Pat The series was woefully lacking in plot.
What children’s books do you remember?
9 responses to “Where the Wild Things Weren’t”
I don’t know how I managed to develop any sort of imagination at all. I remember one about a robin that stole some tinsel to decorate his nest, and another about some kittens that had lost their mittens. Both English, so I grew up disconnected with my own country.
So many brilliant books around now: and our Margaret Mahy is one of the best children’s writers there is.
“Where is the Bear” by Betty Hubka (Some of which I can still recite, to this day.)
“Blueberries for Sal” by Robert McCloskey (An old book, but a good one. Also featuring bears. Hmm. I sense a theme.)
I got copies of both of these for my own daughter. Though she was quite fond of “Pat the Bunny” also (no bear in that one … right?).
I’m kind of sad for you that you didn’t have Where the Wild Things Are. It was really very wonderful to think of a kid living amongst the monsters as a friend, and not food.
I remember an illustrated Mother Goose book, a set of McGuffy’s readers, and Hans Christian Anderson tales which I adore reading now and then to this day. I don’t recall any of the Pat books or anything else. Of course the gory stories would stick better.
I had all of that and then some. Having a small child is a good way to refresh your memory of your childhood books. That, plus the fact that my mother never threw anything out.
The only books from my own childhood I remember are “Green Eggs and Ham” and Jane and Dick reading books.
I used to read “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs” to my kids all the time when they were young. and occasionally “Where The Wild Things Are”. I don’t know how they are making a movie out of a book that has basically 50 words in the entire book. It’s mostly pictures. This one escapes me.
“Teatime for Francis”
“Amelia Bedelia” series
“Curious George” series
“Where the Sidewalk Ends”
Oh, I loved books when I was a kid!
The “Katie John” books.
The “Mrs. Piggle Wiggle” books.
Encyclopedia Brown.
The “Rupert” books.
When very little, the story of Ferdinand the peaceful bull and I absolutely adored Mike Mulligan’s Steam Shovel. I loved the coziness at the end. I think those were courtesy Captain Kangaroo.
Big Dot – The kittens with mittens sounds very familiar.Wyo – what I remember of Pat the Bunny was that Daddy’s Beard Is Scratchy! Nothing about bears. Tami – Well, since it’s evidently only ten sentences, I can read it in the bookstore and get caught up.Zayrina – Ooo! I remember being fascinated that the Rose Red story was the original Snow White, before disney got to it. magpie – Mom kept my books in a box labelled “For Precious Grandchild.” She scrapped it eventually.Candy – A recent trivia question was “What is the only polysyllabic word in Green Eggs and Ham?” I bet you know. Erin G – Okay, I’ve read Curious George. And you know, I love books, but not so much since I’ve grown up. The enjoyment I get from a Pulitzer winner isn’t as much as I got out of any of my favorite kids books. Becs – Aside from Encyclopiedia Brown, I’ve never heard of any of your books! I just had to google the end of Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel.