Kat's Reviews > Bumble-Ardy

As curled as a little piggy's tail, this tale of a wild rumpus (haven't we all craved that since Where the Wild Things introduced this idea?) has all the reality a child might need to be well-adjusted to the world, or perhaps worlds, of childhood. I grew up reading the Grimm canon of fairytales and found solace in the grim realities that so many of the heroines or heroes faced and endured in tale after tale. I preferred the ones that didn't always have a pat ending and Sendak recognized the necessity to allow for children to come to that wisdom too. Too many children's books offer neat platitudes for the "rules" of the universe. Sendak allows for disappointment, frustration and plain naughtiness in this most interesting last book by the master. Raise high your overflowing cup of brine and dance for Bumble-Ardy, the pig who was deprived *who should stand for that!* of the party of birth, the acknowledgement that you actually matter and were loved. I think, if I were still a child, I would find solace in the pure fact that if life doesn't give you what you feel you need to be happy - well, do it for yourself with style and élan. Read this to a child and heed the message yourself so you can be proactive in the happiness department. Why, in our family, you don't have a birthday, you have a birthweek! We even have a song about being a birthday pig. My brother and I co-wrote this song when we were 3 and 6 and sing it every year and laugh. It is not a terrific song, but it was great fun when we were small. Trust your child to make their way through this book's great fun. Sendak tweaks at adult fears and gives kiddies just what they need to be sane adults. Otherwise, buy those dreadful books at the grocery store that cost 1.99 and feel smug. oy. Sendak is a national treasure. Splurge and buy hardcover and celebrate riotousness.