14
Where The Wild Things Are by Dave Eggers
I was hesitant to pick up Where The Wild Things Are by Dave Eggers because I’m so in love with Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. I was afraid that Eggers was going to ruin the beloved chidren’s book.
It was hard to think that any author – even Eggers – could capture that whimsy that accompanies the original picture book. Maybe Eggers could get the whimsy, but could he also get the message of how powerless youth are, and how liberating their fantasies can be?
In short, yes he could.
Dave Eggers co-wrote the movie version with Spike Jonze, and then he penned this novel based on their screenplay.
The original Where The Wild Things Are is just a dozen pages with no more than 250 words. Super short. The longer Eggers version still has a wild boy named Max, and he still bites his mother and is told he’s too wild and is sent to his room.
Max still finds himself on an island with the Wild Things.
But there are differences too. We see much more of Max’s home life in the Eggers version. We learn that Max has an older sister that’s too cool for the baby games that Max wants to play.
One of my favorite differences is that Eggers pulls out a lot of the kid-with-behavioral-issues and puts them front and center. Max isn’t just a wild boy…he’s got some serious fucking issues. Perhaps he’s bipolar.
On the island of wild things, Max is king and he still leads the wild rumpus. And in the Eggers version each of the wild things have their own distinct voice and personality.
Think of this book as it’s own thing…not just a quick adaptation. I wouldn’t call this book brilliant, but for those young adults moving on to full novels, or just those adults out there that enjoy “kidslit” (or a flashback to the Sendak of their youth), this is a good read.
Just a longer version of that picture book you loved.
- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Vintage; 1 edition (March 9, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307475468
3
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
I’m a Roald Dahl fan, and with the recent success of the Fantastic Mr. Fox movie, I thought I should pick up this book and give it a go.
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl is about a fox that steals food for himself and his family from three farmers: chickens from Boggis, ducks and geese from Bunce, and turkeys from Bean.
All three farmers were mean and nasty. And their joint hatred for the thieving Mr. Fox makes them join forces to kill him.
They hang out and wait for the fox to emerge. Then they begin digging with shovels and eventually turn to machines.
In a bind, Mr. Fox comes up with a brilliant idea…
Roald Dahl is a classic 20th Century Kids Lit author. In between his big works, he has a bunch of little gems that I’m slowly finding. Fantastic Mr. Fox is one of those. There’s nothing too deep about this book, but it’s a great read-aloud book to use with children.
If you’re reading this with a kid, ask him why it’s bad for the farmers to kill the fox…but it’s okay for the fox to kill and eat the chickens.
The three stooges versus a loveable Peter-The-Rabbit-Like character.
- Reading level: Ages 9-12
- Paperback: 96 pages
- Publisher: Puffin (August 16, 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0142410349
27
Sadie (7yo) copies books.
I just came across this on Angry Chicken and thought that it was just beautiful. Seven-year-old Sadie has copied books for a couple of years now and according to Amy they are getting more and more detailed and taking more and more hours to complete.
I love that she adds characters and changes the genders of the existing characters. Amy posted these pictures of Keats’ Snowy Day. Love it!!
13
Glass Houses (Morganville Vampires, Book 1)
The Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine is cute. Not amazing, but it is a YA book, and it is marketed to young teens, so try to take that into consideration. If I were 12 or 13, I would be in love with the series. Since I’m a number of years older than that, I think they’re cute little books to pass the time between bigger, more “serious” stories, but I am not saying that makes it any less worthwhile.
In the first novel, Glass Houses, we meet Claire, who is a total sweetheart and so intelligent she was accepted into college at age 16. Her overprotective parents, however, are not entirely comfortable sending their innocent young girl to a far off Ivy League, so they compromise – Claire will spend a few years at (the significantly closer and cheaper) Texas Prairie University in Morganville before going off to the big bad MIT.
Naturally, this act of protection backfires and Claire ends up in a town run entirely by vampires. I have nothing against the Morganville vampires – they keep to themselves (unlike certain sparklers out there) and don’t mess with the ancient vampire code of spookiness. In fact, they are probably more intelligent in their secrecy than a lot of modern vampires, yet are just as ruthless and just as evil. I recommended these books to my brother’s girlfriend, or anyone who wants to read Twilight.
Super-intelligent teenager gets more than she bargained for in Vampireville.
- Reading level: Young Adult
- Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
- Publisher: NAL Jam; Reissue edition (October 3, 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0451219945
- Amazon Link
12
Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin
Rarely do you find a children’s book that can make both kids and adults giggle like crazy. The reading level for this book is 2nd – 3rd grade, but amusing for all ages.
Farmer Brown has a problem when his cows find a type writer and start sending him requests for better working conditions. Soon, other farm animals join in and make Farmer Brown’s life very difficult. Using ducks as their 3rd party negotiator, Farmer Brown and his animals finally come to an agreement.
The illustrations are just as funny as the story line. All in all, a delightful and well written story. May not be so great for bedtime, as we were still laughing about the story several hours after we read it.
Farm animals running the farm; funny for the whole family.
- Reading level: Ages 4-8
- Hardcover: 32 pages
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (February 1, 2000)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0689832133
- Amazon Link
26
Grisham writes for kids
Legal-novelist John Grisham sold a two-book series for children to Penguin Young Readers Group, according to Publisher’s Weekly.
The first book is titled Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer and is about a 13-year-old that gets involved in a big murder trial in his town. It will be released on May 25th here in the U.S.
The second book is scheduled for release sometime in 2011.
KidsLit has always been a money maker, and it’s interesting to see how authors like James Patterson and John Grisham do in this new market.
