I am introducing myself, at 58, to my
first work by Maurice Sendak,
who many may know as the creator of
Where the Wild Things Are. But this story
is Higgledy Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be
More to Life, and it is about Jenny, a Sealyham
terrior who decides to leave her comfortable
home for a life of adventure, despite having
no experience outside of her haven. It seems
a whimsical, almost impossibly immature
decision, but when I think about it a moment,
it is one in which I am all too familiar. From
age 7 to 17 I dreamed of leaving home to
strike some wild adventure, myself, often
creating storyboards for such. One such
dwelt-upon dream was making it somehow
to Charleston, West Virginia, where I’d stow
away on a ship heading to Ireland, where
I’d live for a long duration. Or I’d often
think of hopping in a car and driving to
Hollywood to become a soap opera actor.
Jenny, too, wants to be a star, which is of
course a familiar notion to a fellow who
has two degrees in the dramatic arts. So
Sendak’s story, which he has both written
and illustrated, is something I should be able
to get into. And while I’ve only read a small
portion of the book thus far, I presume this
adventure that Jenny is on will be mostly
peaceful (I know this especially since I have
snuck a peak at the last page). So, despite
my initial reaction to Jenny’s decision, I can
very much relate to her desire for leaving
her comfort zone for an adventure. While
it seems quite rash as a life choice, I will
continue to read it, but without being so very
judgmental, remembering that I, too, wanted
so much to do what she does in the book,
where I would inevitably be
Landing on My Feet, in the Right Plact, at the Right Time.
