Forget 200+ page tomes on academic subjects that I barely understand — Goodnight Moon, Green Eggs and Ham, The Very Hungry Caterpillar … these are the books that filled my early life and still inspire thoughts of nostalgia and joy. One book that stayed near the top of the pile, and topped them all in terms of sheer creativity and originality, was Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

One day, relatively soon after I first arrived at Cornell, I was surprised to discover that Sendak’s classic children’s book had followed me to college.

Every time I’m in a car in downtown Ithaca, a burst of color grabs my attention on Taughannock Blvd. Where the Jewelbox jewelry store now stands, there used to be an ice cream shop. And so it is fitting that a mural with images from Where the Wild Things Are has decorated the wall around the corner for several years now, still illuminating that corner of Ithaca as a film adaptation of the book is now playing in movie theaters across the country.

But now we, the audience for Where the Wild Things Are, are all grown up and supposed to be skeptical about such childish topics as imagination — how does the story translate from the time of being a child to our current lives as adults? Find out within the pages of this week’s Daze.

As always, send all questions, comments or suggestions to me at daze-editor@cornellsun.com, and follow Red Letter Daze on Facebook and/or Twitter to stay updated on the latest news from Daze.

Time to go to the movies,

Allie Perez