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    Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult
    Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult
    Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult
    Audiobook7 hours

    Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult

    Written by Bruce Handy

    Narrated by Bruce Handy

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    In 1690, the dour New England Primer, thought to be the first American children's book, was published in Boston. Offering children gems of advice such as "Strive to learn" and "Be not a dunce," it was no fun at all. So how did we get from there to "Let the wild rumpus start"? And now that we're living in a golden age of children's literature, what can adults get out of reading Where the Wild Things Are and Goodnight Moon, or Charlotte's Web and Little House on the Prairie?

    In Wild Things, Vanity Fair contributing editor Bruce Handy revisits the classics of every American childhood, from fairy tales to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and explores the back stories of their creators, using context and biography to understand how some of the most insightful, creative, and witty authors and illustrators of their times created their often deeply personal masterpieces. Along the way, Handy learns what The Cat in the Hat says about anarchy and absentee parenting, which themes are shared by The Runaway Bunny and Portnoy's Complaint, and why Ramona Quimby is as true an American icon as Tom Sawyer or Jay Gatsby.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateAug 15, 2017
    ISBN9781681687902
    Author

    Bruce Handy

    Bruce Handy is currently a contributing editor of Vanity Fair. A former writer and editor at Spy and Time, his articles, essays, reviews, and humor pieces have appeared in such publications as The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Book Review, New York magazine, Rolling Stone, Vogue, The Village Voice, and The New Yorker. Handy was nominated for an Emmy in 1993 as a member of Saturday Night Live’s writing staff. He won a GLAAD Award in 1998 for his “Yep I’m Gay” Time cover profile of Ellen DeGeneres. At Vanity Fair, he has written on topics and personalities as diverse as Mad Men, Amy Schumer, film composer John Barry, PeeWee Herman, Miley Cyrus, the J.T. Leroy hoax, Cinerama, and the history of flight attendants. A native of California and a graduate of Stanford University, Handy lives in Manhattan with his wife, novelist Helen Schulman, and their two children. Wild Things is his first book.

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    Reviews for Wild Things

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      A little bit history of (selected) children's lit and a little bit explication of its subtitle, Wild Things was entertaining and pleasing. I'm not sure it would convince anyone who *didn't* want to read children's lit as an adult to do so, but I'm also not sure it was trying to. (This feels like the kind of book that is preaching to the choir and knows it and doesn't mind and the choir doesn't mind either.) And I think that's part of what made it good--it wasn't trying to make an argument, really, but rather was just setting down, nice and neat, what's cool and worthwhile (in other words, why we like it) about a certain kind of reading. And it's inspired me to try to revisit some Dr. Seuss and the Ramona Quimby books. Recommended, especially to readers who like books about books.
    • 3/5
      This book is as American as apple pie. It is wholesome, sweet and reminds me of all the comforts of home. This book overwhelms with its nostalgia.

      I found some of Handy's insights on some of the books he mentioned to be particularly interesting. I loved learning about Beatrix Potter and how she, at 18, would go to museums and art galleries and write in her journal that Michelangelo was an 'awful painter' and Raphael 'couldn't draw horses'. She said, of Rubens, that his art 'lacked shadow, depth and was rather higgeldy-piggeldy.'

      SAVAGE, Beatrix.

      This book is a non-fiction examination of some childhood favourites. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. Dr. Seuss, E. B White, C. S. Lewis, Shel Silverstein and more. Before reading this book, I would check the contents page to see if there are any books you don't want spoiled, because the author does pull passages from the books and invariably talk about their endings or spoil them in some way.

      I loved hearing about my favourite childhood books -- remembering old favourites and agreeing with Handy on many of his points. However, this book is so so so overwhelmingly white. Apart from Shel Silverstein and Mildred D. Taylor (who wrote Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, a newberry award-winning book that was a favourite of mine in 2017) and a few authors in the appendix, most of the authors mentioned in this book are white.

      I don't think that's necessarily Handy's fault, but it is a huge issue in publishing in general and deserves to be acknowledged. He does often refer to problematic content and, in one example, he actually gives an own voices recommendation instead of the book, which I really appreciated. But I did feel his privilege when he acknowledged some problematic content in books in a few sentences and then moved on.

      It also became apparent that he really didn't like adaptations of most of the books he mentioned. Which is fine, but he spent a lot of time lamenting that his children preferred the Winnie the Pooh cartoon to the original stories.

      I feel like adaptations are just that -- adaptions. And while many of the ones Handy spoke of were soaked in commercialism, pumped out because of their popularity, adaptions can bring new audiences to the original text. Adaptions may not render the text faithfully, but they don't always have to, and I think we need to relax about holding films and TV to the same standards which we hold books. (She said, on a bookish website.)

      And I don't necessarily think Handy dislikes adaptations, but that's just how it was framed in the text. After that chapter, decrying his children preferring a cartoon of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to the original, Handy then proceeds to say that he fell in love with the Wizard of Oz the film, then went on to read the books.

      He adds that Judy Garland's Dorothy adds much more to the character, whereas Baum's is more of a tabula rasa, a window for the audience.

      ... do you see how this works, Handy? Do you see how someone can enjoy a film adaptation and end up reading the book?

      ANYWAY. I think my issues are with the author more than the actual text. He called Donald Trump a con artist, which is relevant and gratifying, but a few pages later he said he couldn't get through Anne of Green Gables so I'm feeling a little conflicted on the man himself at the moment.

      But I did love learning about some of my favourite children's lit authors. It was obvious that a lot of research went into this and looking at the appendix was an absolute joy, because of all the book recommendations. I'm really looking forward to using this book in my YouTube children's lit video series. c:
    • 5/5
      This is one of those rare books that I love so much, and it was such a pleasure to read, that I'm legit surprised it didn't get 5s across the board from everyone. And I love Anne! (Apparently the determining factor for liking this book is whether you can accept that Mr. Handy didn't manage to get through Anne of Green Gables, comparing her to an early example of the manic pixie girl archetype, which, to be fair, he pretty much nailed.)

      My dad's dying in the hospice, and I wanted comfort reading ... turns out reading about children's lit is even more comforting than reading the children's lit itself. And it doesn't hurt that (Anne aside) I'm with him on 98% of his opinions, to the point that I've talked myself into seeking out anything he's fond of that I'm not acquainted with.

      One quibble: I'm not actually sure the subtitle is the correct one. I think the joy is expressly implicitly. It's mostly biography, a bit about what makes the book(s) great, and then on to similar authors--but so well expressed, so perceptive, and with just the exact-right-references ... really, it was a pleasure.

      One other quibble: apparently without my noticing the "young adult" book market has embraced everything down to 12 (I still thought it was older teens) so by eschewing young adult fiction he's limited the conversation to books I read prior to age 8 (I was precocious), very junior fiction indeed. I'm hoping for a sequel that could include Diana Wynne Jones, Norton Juster, E.L. Kongisburg, Madeleine L'Engle, Ursula K. LeGuin, etc.

      (Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s).
    • 3/5
      This book is a survey of children's literature which sets out to cover four points: "Why we loved the books we loved", the social and personal contexts that produced them, what they meant to the authors and illustrators and why they sometimes fall short. Since the library of children's literature is so vast the author compiles the texts into smaller groups starting with picture books then on to early readers through young adulthood. Throughout the book, I enjoyed Handy's little tidbits of information. For instance, Goodnight Moon suggests to little ones that there is more in the world than just a parent - child relationship. Disney took Grimm's fairy tales and Americanized them for his audience. Sendak and Seuss didn't set out to write books for children. "For kids, animal characters are avatars - stand ins reflecting their literal smallness and relative powerlessness in the face of adult omnipotence." As children grow so do their animal counterparts: Snoopy, Ole Yeller, Black Beauty to name a few.In the 20th century, children's books too on political and social thought suggested through Babar, Curious George and Ferdinand.All in all, it was an interesting book, not one that I would pick up but I appreciated the fact the author writes no so much academically but for the everyday reader.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this one. It probably didn't hurt that, L.M. Montgomery and Judy Blume aside, Handy's tastes and opinions align very closely with my own (so clearly he knows Good children's books when he reads them!). Hard to say how much I “learned” – I was a children's librarian for ten years, and I read a lot to my own kids – but Handy writes well and with a casual tone that makes his book feel like a very engaging conversation on old favorite books and authors with an exceptionally well informed friend.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this book but in the end judged it not very insightful or particularly well written. When I studied children’s lit, I read lots of critical works and reviews. Sheila Egoff was my teacher and she, amongt others, wrote bracing, revelatory essays on childres’ books and folk tales. I loved her lectures on fairy tales, how removing the violent ending of the wolf, for example, frightens children more because he’s still out there!!
    • 4/5
      Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children's Literature as an Adult by Bruce Handy showed up on my radar through a footnote in another book that I read last year. (Just one more reminder that I am 100% a nerd especially in regards to children's literature.) Handy splits the chapters into different books considered 'classics' of children's literature and he explains why they've had a lasting effect and endured as long as they have. He makes an argument that there is a reason books become classics but there is also a clarity in realizing that a difference of opinion will most certainly occur. A good example is Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I know this is a classic and it is still read by kids and parents now but I have never (and probably never will) consider this one a favorite. In that same vein, there were quite a few books that he mentioned that I had not heard of or had never read and I promptly added them to my TRL. (You may recognize some of the titles if you decide to read this book.) One of the best things about Wild Things was the organization of the chapters. It's quite obvious that Handy has not only done thorough research on the topic but has a real passion for the topic. This made it have an academic feel which I really appreciated. Interspersed throughout the book are personal anecdotes about the books he loved as a child as well as his experience introducing books to his children. (Get those tissues out, parents with small children. It's fairly sentimental.) I doubt this would be of as much interest to someone not in the field of children's literature but if you're looking for inspiration about what books to read to your kids at night then this would be an excellent source for you. 9/10
    • 5/5
      Thoroughly enjoyable read on children's literature. I found myself going back and re-reading certain titles since I obviously missed so much in my younger years.
    • 4/5
      A thoroughly charming reflection on children's classics - really children's classics, older books, and targeted at children, not young adults. I enjoyed this immensely, and I'll recommend it to any book lover over the age of, say, twenty (but especially to parents with grown children, who will have an extra layer of memories with which to enjoy this book).
    • 5/5
      Mr. Handy enjoyed reading at bedtime to his children when they were young, and discovered that some of his favorite books as a child, he still enjoyed (and saw deeper messages in) and others he was disappointed in as an adult. He describes and criticizes children's books from picture books to young adult. I enjoyed reading this book, especially when he discussed old favorites of mine or books or authors I remembered reading. In my opinion, Mr. Handy was weakest in his comments about books which he had not read as a child, especially Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books and Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, which he had considered girls' books when growing up. Mr. Handy did not shy away from serious topics; in the final chapter he discusses books dealing with death and especially recommends the picture book, The Dead Bird by Margaret Wise Brown, published posthumously and Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.Although there are some footnotes, this is not a scholarly book. It is conversational in tone; Mr. Handy often mentions how he related to a book or topic as a child.Recommended for anyone interested in children's literature including parents and teachers.