This is the official blog of Northern Arizona slam poet Christopher Fox Graham. Begun in 2002, and transferred to blogspot in 2006, FoxTheBlog has recorded more than 670,000 hits since 2009. This blog cover's Graham's poetry, the Arizona poetry slam community and offers tips for slam poets from sources around the Internet. Read CFG's full biography here. Looking for just that one poem? You know the one ... click here to find it.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

"Where the Wild Things Are"

"Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak is a children's picture book originally published by Harper & Row. "Where the Wild Things Are" is an upcoming 2009 film adaptation. The film is directed by Spike Jonze and written by Jonze and Dave Eggers.

This was one of my favorite books growing up as a kid, mainly because I remember being sent to my room a lot by my father. I really want to go see this movie with my mom. I'm 30 years old, but this is a kid's movie and I should see it with her. If I didn't, something would really seem out of whack.

In the "real" world, the film features Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Cooper and, fittingly, Max Records as Max. The Wild Things' voices are supplied by Lauren Ambrose, James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Tom Noonan, Paul Dano as Alexander and Angus Sampson.

The book is about the wild adventure of a boy named Max who is sent to his room without his supper by his mother as punishment for talking back. Max wears a distinctive wolf suit during his adventures and encounters various mythical creatures, the "wild things." Although just ten sentences long, the book is generally regarded as a masterpiece of American illustrated children's literature.

The film combines live action, suitmation, animatronics, and CGI. Its release is currently scheduled for Oct. 16, 2009. The trailer features the song "Wake Up" by The Arcade Fire.

"Somethin' filled up
my heart with nothin',
someone told me not to cry.

But now that I'm older,
my heart's colder,
and I can see that it's a lie.

Children wake up,
hold your mistake up,
before they turn the summer into dust.

If the children don't grow up,
our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up.
We're just a million little gods causin' rain storms turnin' every good thing to
rust.

I guess we'll just have to adjust.

With my lightnin' bolts a glowin'
I can see where I am goin' to be
when the reaper he reaches and touches my hand.

With my lightnin' bolts a glowin'
I can see where I am goin’
With my lightnin' bolts a glowin'
I can see where I am, go-go, where I am

You'd better look out below"


Written in 1963, it was awarded the Caldecott Medal in 1964. It also won the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and was an ALA Notable Book.

And if the book can be read by President Barack Obama, it's got to be good, because anything that man touches turns to gold. Obama reads "Where The Wild Things Are" to kids at the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday 13 April 2009.

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