in the maurice sendak documentary "tell them anything you want", sendak discussed two books i hadn't read before, "outside over there" and "higglety pigglety pop!". they both meant a lot to him so i had to read them.
as i discussed in the post about the documentary, sendak was traumatized by a newspaper photograph he saw as a child of the lindbergh baby's remains. as a result of this photo he became obsessed with the case and was quite knowledgable about it. as he explained in the documentary, this book was about the lindbergh baby and also his sister who took care of him.
the story is the tale of a sister who is charge of her baby sister and who resents the responsibility a little. one day goblins came in and took away the baby to make her into a bride. the sister crawled out backward but after the advice of her father's song from his ship and sea, discovered the way to save her baby sister. the older sister played her own and the goblins danced until they became a stream. then, the sisters returned safely home. the older one proud to take care of the younger one.
it is a scary story especially for children but with a happy ending. sendak's giving the lindbergh baby a safe return home.
"outside over there" received a cadecott honor for its illustrations. the book is filled with beautiful yet dark pictures. haunting yet lovely, like this one of the baby being kidnap and the ice replica left in her place.
in the documentary, sendak points out that there is an drawing of the actual
lindbergh baby:
such a sad fate for the lindbergh baby but "outside over there" demonstrated how book are therapy for writers.
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in the documentary, sendak also mentioned how he wished he had written another book like "higglety pigglety pop! of there must be more to life." after reading it, i wish he had written more like it. it reminded me of "alice in wonderland" with it's clever word play and puns. in addition to its cast of colorful animal characters.
as sendak shared in the documentary, it featured his dog, jennie. jennie was in a handful for sendak's books but in this one she was the featured character:
in the story, jennie has it all. everything she needs and would want and a master that loves her. but she is nagged by this feeling that there is more to life so she lives on an adventure.
i would retell the story but its really one you need to experience firsthand because there is a bit of wordplay. lets just say in the end, jennie gets her adventure!
i will say that i did expect jennie to return home to her master, having discovered there really wasn't much to life as she had expected. i thought the book was going to be a warning against wanting too much of life. but luckily i was wrong. i was disappointed with myself for the conclusion i had expected. kids and adults should be encouraged to go out into the world and discover it. growing up in a small town it was an easy option to stay home. thank my lucky stars, i went out into the world, like jennie, and was able to have experiences that would have never occurred if i stayed in delano. i realized that kids need to told there is more to life than what they have seen. they need to be adventurous. it's in important lesson for kids of all ages.
(ps i think this would make a greater graduation gift than "oh the places you will go.")
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