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But why does Max send the wild things to bed without their supper?
He leaves his home because he's resentful at being a child, and wants to be in control. When he gets to the Land of the Wild Things, he copies his mom's behavior, acting like the parent. And then he realizes that he doesn't want to be the parent, he wants to be the child, and be loved like a child, so he returns home.
Transferrence. You ever tussle with a dog and he goes and attacks the cat?
Yes, but I have a lot of problems with it. He sends them to bed without their supper, the wild things having done nothing wrong, and just sails away forever saying see ya. I don't know if I want my kids learning that lesson.
So are you also avoiding all the classic nursery rhymes and stories like Little Red Riding Hood (eaten by wolf), King Midas (slavery), Cinderella (evil step mother and sisters), Puss In Boots (trickery, deceit, murder of the mouse), Hansel and Gretel (cannibalism). I can go on and on. I didn’t even touch Mother Goose yet.
Millions raised on such stories yet we somehow still have a society with morals and ethics.
Children don’t internalize everything the way you seem to think.
I've been wondering: why would you give a story to your child where you have to explain that "these people are dumb", "this is not something you should do", etc at every page.
About that subject, the song "au clair de la lune" really disturbed me when I was young. Everything seemed weird about it, combined with the fact that it stays in your head, that really made me wonder what I didn't know about this world. Turns out the song is about banging a prostitute, so now I see why this and other things that disturbed when young were indeed disturbing.
I see why you would want to avoid telling a story about parents abandoning their child at an economic downturn, and instead find stories with an uplifting story.
I always took it to be because he didn't feel like he'd done anything wrong either, so he was acting out how he experienced it. When he "returns" from his trip his dinner is waiting, perhaps (because of where the story takes place) this is also reconciled after the effect?
I do love the artwork and so do my children!