Turn Five

Those traveling to New York this week are a lucky bunch.  Today marks the beginning of the week long celebration, Wild Things Week NYC, in honor of a son of the city of Brooklyn.  Maurice Sendak, now 81 years old, created a entire world when he wrote and illustrated his children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” in 1963.  It is a world that I remember, one of the only children’s books I can still picture in my head.  This is true for so many people, adults my age who just simply cannot wait for opening day.

And this week the live action version, directed by Spike Jonze is set to be released to a wide range of people who have been holding this story dear to their hearts, most of them far past the age of childhood.  Sendak recently spoke about how growing up in New York was the inspiration for his tale that is so beloved to so many.  Sendak stated that his widely recognized characters were based on his family members, all of them immigrants and all of them just a bit uncomfortable in their new surroundings in Brooklyn.

He admitted that these relatives freaked he, his brother and his sister out a bit with their strange and foreign ways and that they would actually hide from them when the came to visit.  They couldn’t understand the Yiddish language spoken and at the time the kids just wanted to be American.  He says though that as he grew older he came to love them, one most of all his Grandmother whom he said was actually the more foreign and alien of all of the relatives.

But he wrote “Wild Things” from the perspective of a child, when the pinches and too-tight hugs of adults seem more frightening than signs of affection.  This week will be a wonderful time in the city, so book your New York hotel suites now if you haven’t already, and be in on one of the most fabulous movie premieres this year…and depending how fond you are of this book from our childhood–perhaps you booked those accommodations already.

Related posts:

1. The Inspiration of Brooklyn Bridge
2. Wild Life Trek in Seattle
3. New York Food Museum
4. Walking my way through New York
5. Last Night in New York

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