What I Researched/Why:
I set out looking for alternate illustrations/representations of the story from Where The Wild Things Are. We discussed in class how the illustrations contribute heavily to the story in children’s picture books, so I was curious to see if anyone had attempted to reinterpret the story through changing the pictures. I wanted to see what other artists found important to the telling of the story. I found something really interesting, although it is not exactly an alternative illustration.
What I Found:
I found a garden someone entered in a flower show this year, based on Where The Wild Things Are. CLICK HERE to go to my favorite picture of the garden. I like that picture because it shows all of the plants, as well as the bed and the boat. However, there are some other great shots, including a beautiful one of the grass-bed. I also found THIS page, where the plan for the layout of the garden is shown, to be really interesting.
Interpretation/What This Adds to Class Discussion:
I thought that this garden shows how much value children’s books hold for adults. People often question how much children’s literature really influences kids. The amount of time and effort spent in the planning and execution of this garden (which is clearly a lot, if you look at the complexity of the garden’s plan) shows just how much a book from their childhood meant to an adult.
One of my favorite things about this garden is that Max is not in it. If you look at the pictures from within the garden, it feels like you are standing in Max’s room—as if you have become Max. This is really interesting because a common strategy in books, especially children’s books, is making the reader identify with the main character. Certainly most children can remember wanting to be a character in their favorite books. I love the extreme this strategy is taken to here. As an adult, you can live out a childhood dream (or perhaps relive a childhood reality—if you were a very imaginative child) to participate in the world of the book.
A final thing this garden reminded me of is the child's perceived strong connection to nature that we have discussed in class. When I think of Where the Wild Things Are, I usually think of the "wild" in association with Max's naughtiness, and of course the wild things themselves, forgetting what an important part the "wildness" of nature plays in the story. This garden really emphasizes that aspect of the book. So, even though it was not exactly the alternate illustration I was originally looking for, it did let me see what aspects of the story were important for the artist who created this garden. I wonder if any other artists have chosen to represent Where the Wild Things Are through emphasizing different aspects of the text--it's interesting to see what different people find important about the story.
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4 comments:
I think this is something that rarely gets discussed and should be, especially in children's literature classes. WHY do books that we read in childhood hold so much meaning for us? This garden is just one of a multitude of examples of adult interpretations of children's books. I think the strong love of childhood characters can especially be seen in Halloween costumes.
It is certainly a great artistic endeavor to attempt replicating the world implied through Sendak's illustrations, but it is proof of the sentimentality that adult artists (and gardners in this case!) hold toward the book they grew up with. Let us not forget the tourist attraction of Tom Sawyer's whitewashed fence in St. Petersburgh (photos can be easily googled online). Many children's books are accompanied by certian works or art now-a-days. In my last preschool job, certain books were accompanied by finger puppets that were to be used to act out the story with! And sadly enough, most teachers dismissed the puppets on the basis of being too distracting from the book itself for the children.
I do agree that illustrations can contriibute a great deal to a story. Good or bad illustrations can make or break a story. I work in a Preschool and I NEVER get through a story without showing the picture. Children use pictures to grasp the meaning of a story. At a young age, stories can be confusing and children can use pictures to help them to understand. Great pictures can make or break a book. Now, I do love pictures, but I can also understand why some teachers may find them distracting. Children are so easily distracted! If you really want them to grasp the meaning of a book you may not want to use finger puppets or obsess over pictures. It would be a good idea to use the pictures to develop the meaning of the book. Children would benefit from the teacher looking at the picture with them and asking what they see/ what the picture means to them. Children are far more capable of understanding a good picture than one may expect.
I also find it interesting that Max is left out of the "Where the Wild Things Are" garden. It lets whoever is looking at the garden imagine that they are standing in Max's room. It is also interesting to wonder why whoever made this garden liked "Where the Wild Things Are" so much as a child or whenever they read it. The "Where the Wild Things Are" garden is just one example that demonstrates how much certain books can effect us for the rest of our lives.
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