Please don't go. We'll eat you up. We love you so. - Maurice Sendak

I wanted my wild things to be frightening. But why? It was probably at this point that I remembered how I detested my Brooklyn relatives as a small child. They came almost every Sunday, and there was my week-long anxiety about their coming the next Sunday... They'd lean way over with their bad teeth and hairy noses, and say something threatening like "You're so cute I could eat you up." And I knew if my mother didn't hurry up with the cooking, they probably would.

"And now," cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!"

I remember my own childhood vividly...I knew terrible things. But I knew I mustn't let adults know I knew. It would scare them