The title is in a sarcastic tone in regards to my daughter. She woke up again last night, crying and telling us she had a bad dream. Nothing will wake you up quicker than your child's sudden screaming in the middle of the night. You'll find yourself in their room before you are really aware of what you are doing.
So where do the notions of monsters come from? I was startled when my daughter started to talk about them, because I had never mentioned them. A revelation came when we saw the cover art for Where the Wild Things Are, my daughter pointed and told me the name of the book. I raised an eyebrow and asked "how do you know about that? Do you read that at school?" She nodded yes. That explained alot.
On that topic, there's an interview with the book's creator available on NPR, "A Conversation with Maurice Sendak." His favorite subject? "Scaring children." From my point of view, he's got that down pat. Bastard ( *shakes fist and smiles ruefully* ). 
Also it looks like they are making a movie out of the book, directed by Spike Jonze. Unfortunately information is thin on the project.
And lastly, via Drawn! The Illustration Blog comes Monster Engine, which sets out to answer the question, "What would a child's drawings look like if painted realistically?" I have to say the results are pretty freakin' scary. Now I am going to have nightmares.
| Comments [2] : Permalink | Published: (2005-06-06 10:22:29.0) |
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Posted by Levi on June 06, 2005 at 04:40 PM PDT #
I think every kid displaces their fears onto something, whether they have a name for it or not. And nighttime *is* scary, especially when you feel alone; even many adults are afraid of the dark.
I gotta wonder, though, whether nightmares are more prevalent in cultures like ours where kids sleep in their own rooms, as opposed to other countries where alone-ness is really unusual. ("They have televisions and computers in their own rooms? Really? Why--are they being punished?")
Posted by Rich on January 04, 2006 at 12:55 PM PST #