Synopses & Reviews
An irresistible, nostalgic, insightful — and "consistently intelligent and funny" (The New York Times Book Review) — ramble through classic children's literature from Vanity Fair contributing editor (and father of two) Bruce Handy.
The dour New England Primer, thought to be the first American children's book, was first published in Boston in 1690. 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?
A "delightful excursion" (The Wall Street Journal), Wild Things 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.
It's a profound, eye-opening experience to re-encounter books that you once treasured decades ago. A clear-eyed love letter to the greatest children's books and authors from Louisa May Alcott and L. Frank Baum to Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss, Mildred D. Taylor, and E.B. White, Wild Things is "a spirited, perceptive, and just outright funny account that will surely leave its readers with a new appreciation for childhood favorites" (Publishers Weekly).
Review
"Highly engaging....As well-researched as it is seamlessly composed, this book entertains as it educates." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review
"Rollicking and razor sharp, consistently engaging, always on point, and packed with history, theory, and humor...Highly recommended for anyone who reads — or has read — children's literature." Library Journal Book Review (Starred Review)
Review
"Nothing less than a Golden Ticket into the Whipple-Scrumptious world of children's classics....Literary criticism through the prism of memoir, Wild Things is a read — a ride! — of pure pleasure." Vanity Fair
Review
"Delightful...Ranging from Goodnight Moon to Charlotte's Web, Handy cogently captures each book's artistic and emotional qualities while deftly placing it in cultural and historical context." Newsday
Review
"A clear-eyed and often hilarious deep dive into some old standbys of children's literature. ….Handy treats his literary subjects like family members, with admiration and infuriation and love." USA Today
Review
"A terrific rumpus of a journey into the world of illustrated and young reader classics....Wild Things makes a convincing case for reading children's books as an adult." --The A.V. Club
Review
"Brilliant, revelatory, and endlessly entertaining. I've read these books a thousand times, but only now do I finally understand them." Lev Grossman, author of the Magicians trilogy
Review
"A spirited, perceptive, and just outright funny account of reading childhood favorites through adult eyes....Handy's breezy, friendly style lends the book a bright feeling, as of old friends discussing old friends." Publishers Weekly
Review
"A wonderfully entertaining tour of a dozen gems from Goodnight Moon to Charlotte's Web. Full of humor and insight, Wild Things in its evocation of our young reading lives is also as poignant as some of the masterpieces it celebrates. I loved it." Ann Packer, author of The Dive from Clausen's Pier
Review
From the moment I picked up Wild Things, I couldn't put it down — I only wish the book were ten times longer. It was a joy to learn more about so many of my favorite masterpieces of children's literature." Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project
Review
"A rousing and nostalgic romp….A compulsively readable and entertaining collection of essays that will take readers back, in the best sense, to books they may have nearly forgotten but will delight in remembering." Bookpage (Starred Review)
Review
"Catnip to lovers of children's literature and a cordial invitation to strangers to that world to discover what they've been missing.... one of the very best books of its sort in, well, ever. Encore! Encore!" Booklist (Starred Review)
Synopsis
An irresistible, nostalgic, insightful--and "consistently intelligent and funny" (The New York Times Book Review)--ramble through classic children's literature from Vanity Fair contributing editor (and father of two) Bruce Handy. The dour New England Primer, thought to be the first American children's book, was first published in Boston in 1690. 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?
A "delightful excursion" (The Wall Street Journal), Wild Things 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.
It's a profound, eye-opening experience to re-encounter books that you once treasured decades ago. A clear-eyed love letter to the greatest children's books and authors from Louisa May Alcott and L. Frank Baum to Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss, Mildred D. Taylor, and E.B. White, Wild Things is "a spirited, perceptive, and just outright funny account that will surely leave its readers with a new appreciation for childhood favorites" (Publishers Weekly).
About the Author
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.