What’s up, my well read ballas?
This week, we takin’ things to the MAX wit Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.
It’s gettin’ hella late up at da crib, and instead of catchin some z’s, lil shawty
Max sportin some fly-ass wolf threadz and hoppin’ round like a bunny on bath salts.
We see him pitchin’ tents, chasin’ a dog wit a FORK, and just makin’ a damn mess.
Instead of callin’ the exorcist, Max’s mama all like “CHILL you WILD THANG.
Matta’ fact, you betta hustle yo crazy ass up to bed, cuz you ain’t gettin NO DINNER
tonight!”
DAMN GIRL!
A growin boy need his grub.
Max roll up to his room pissed as hell when “OH SHIT!”- a buncha TREES start growin’
in his room and a damn OCEAN tumbles by.
Sounds like this lil dude been growin a diff kind of tree, naw mean?
So boy hop up on a fly-ass boat and start flowin down da ocean fo’ nearly a YEAR.
Finally Max land in this funked-out spot where a bunch of busted-ass beasts called “WILD
THANGS” be chillin.
When deez big headed b*tches see Max, they WIG OUT and try to make him all scurred.
Man, this s**t like Sesame Street on a bad trip!
But Max is a hard-ass gangsta who don’t back down.
He start mad doggin em’ and hollas out "CHILL, b*tches!"
And BOOM!
They all put da hustle aside and slow their roll!
DAYUM!
This lil’ playa got some big boy balls, don't he!
Afta’ seein how real Max be, dem muppet-lookin mofos give him a phat crown and make him king
of all wild thangz.
To celebrate his balla status, Max throws a BANGIN’ rumpus!"
Aww yeah!
PAR-TAY!
Max and his crew are ragin’ under the moon when outta nowhere, Max hollas “Stop!”
and sends dem bustas to bed with NO SUPPER”.
Even though he rockin the crown like a G now, this lil’ bruh start feelin’ mad lonely.
He jus’ wanna be at the spot where someone love him da most.
Basically- he miss his mama!
Max gets the munchies and decide to head home, but the wild thangs all like: "Don’t leave
us, playa!"
But Max be all: "Too late!" and throws up the deuce.
Back at da crib, Max finds his hot dinner still on da table jus’ waitin’ for him
to get his grub on.
Sounds like soul food to me!
Mmm-mmm-MMM! I love you Momma!
When it comes to the children's lit game, this book right here broke all kinda rules.
See, most kids books reppin childhood as just sippin on juiceboxes and playing a little grabass.
But this book right here explore da dark shit dat go down inside the minds of lil kids.
Cuz on da real, it ain’t always all good when you a kid- you gotta deal wit some real raw
emotions.
Dat faraway land of wild thangz represents da psychology of a young blood dealin with
a booty-load of mixed up emotions.
This hood serve as a spot where Max can recognize all his confusion and anger, work through
it, and understand what’s REALLY important in his life.
At first, Max all geeked to chill with the wild thangz.
Cuz wit dem, he can live out his beastly side without havin’ his hater-ass mama always
tryna’ control him.
But when he gettin crunk up at da rumpus, he recognize dat even gettin lit ain’t gonna
make him happy.
So when he kills da party by screamin, “now stop,” he show dat he got mo’ control
over his anger.
You can almost hear his balls drop.
And at the end of the story, lil’ Max recognize dat his mama ain’t controllin’ him just
to be a b*tch.
Nah, blood.
She just really cares about him.
Dat hot grub at da end reppin da fact that no matta’ how much he actin’ like a shit,
he’ll always have da unconditional love of his mama.
Look, da world is a messed up place, even fo’ children.
But instead of just sweepin it under the rug, kids can use their imagination to beast through
all dat loneliness and isolation.
Like Sendak say: “[There are] games children must conjure up to combat an awful fact of
childhood: the fact of their vulnerability to fear, anger, hate, frustration — all
the emotions.
... Through fantasy, Max, the hero of my book, discharges his anger against his mother, and
returns to the real world sleepy, hungry, and at peace with himself.”
Yo, thanks for kickin it wit your boy, man! Peace!