And he sailed off through night and day And in and out of weeks And almost over a year To where the wild things are. - Maurice Sendak

Let the wild rumpus start!

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.

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.