When Bonny was born, the women where I worked at the University of Utah's registrar's office gave me a baby shower. One of the women gave me a copy of Kenny's Window by Maurice Sendak. I had never heard of him before, but Harry and I read the story and were charmed by it.
You need to understand that children's books were not the big business they are today. Most people just had Little Golden Books or checked books out of the library or had copies of Grimm or Andersen fairy tales or bought the little cheap-o books at the market. I was pretty excited to have a bona fide hard back children's book to start Bonny's library.
Interestingly enough, Bonny and Harry came to love the book. (I guess it's not really so odd or interesting - it was the only children's book of any substance that we owned at the first of our child-rearing years.) A review of it says, "Seemingly overlooked and forgotten, "Kenny's Window" is one of the greatest works of children's literature I've come across in the last three years. Comprised of 7 stories, each initiated by a "question" dreamed by Kenny, ("What is an only goat?" "Can you hear a horse on the roof?") Sendak has written a story that draws the reader deep inside the imagination and beautiful, strange logic of a young boy, alone in his room and at play."
As more children came into our home - and more and more books - Kenny's Window was relegated to the bottom of the pile. I don't recall the same interest in it that Bonny and Harry had. We did remain huge Maurice Sendak fans, of course, and occasionally pulled Kenny off the shelf for a read. I think it's not a quick book to read or an easy book to read. When you don't have lots of choices and lots of distractions, you have time to explore and get to know such a book. I'm glad I at least got to know it so well with Bonny and Harry.
And you might like to try it. In memory of one of our favorite authors, who said, "And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming wild things."
As more children came into our home - and more and more books - Kenny's Window was relegated to the bottom of the pile. I don't recall the same interest in it that Bonny and Harry had. We did remain huge Maurice Sendak fans, of course, and occasionally pulled Kenny off the shelf for a read. I think it's not a quick book to read or an easy book to read. When you don't have lots of choices and lots of distractions, you have time to explore and get to know such a book. I'm glad I at least got to know it so well with Bonny and Harry.
And you might like to try it. In memory of one of our favorite authors, who said, "And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming wild things."
1 comment:
ah yes. i think i shall pull my copy from the shelf and revisit kenny. and his window.
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