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The loved children’s book, ‘Where the Wild Thing Are’ by Maurice Sendak is an interesting tale of dealing with change and emotional issues. To be honest, I had not read the children’s book until just recently and I wish I had. Children feel everything so vividly and a book that has helped many children cope with real life is a successful one. My nephew is a just over one years old and his world is so different to mine. Making him happy is the easiest thing, all he cares about is peek a boo and bread really. As he gets older, he must learn what it feels like to embarrassed, annoyed, angry and his little world will shatter. It breaks my heart at times to see that but then I remember my own childhood and how traumatic it was and to be honest I would not have it any other way. The world can be brutal and ugly, much like the Beasts but living is as cliche as it may be a, a journey of accepting that things will change. In the film adaptation, Max does not know how to deal with his parents divorce and his sister ignoring him. Like most children, he decides to misbehave but again he realises that his heart is where his home is. He can run free with the beasts but in the end he misses the warmth of his mothers food. The most impressive aspect of Sendak’s book is that it isn;t just for children but also for adults. As adults we grow each day, emotional intelligence is acquired through a life time, we don’t just turn eighteen and know everything about people. Maybe we don’t all escape to a different world where beasts roam but in our own way we grieve, move on and mature.

For a major assignment about adaptations, I have decided that I will adapt ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ into a photoseries of sorts. I want to acknowledge that we are all Max throughout our whole lives and try to show that with my friends and family of different genders and ages. I will ask them to draw beasts and place it beside them while taking a portrait. I am excited to see the results and how each individuals drawings differ.

Wish me luck