Introduce your kids to the original story of Where the Wild Things Are and five other classic stories with the Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD Where the Wild Things Are…And Five More Stories by Maurice Sendak. Featuring charming hand-drawn animation and music by Carole King, this DVD collection also contains In the Night Kitchen, Alligators All Around, Pierre, One Was Johnny, and Chicken Soup with Rice (my favorite!).

Where the Wild Things Are is the classic story of Max, sent to his room without supper, who dreams about sailing to a world inhabited by friendly monsters. They make him his king which seems like fun until he misses his home.

In the Night Kitchen is, well, odd. A boy dreams of rising from his bed, clothes falling off, and landing in a giant mixing bowl full of cake batter.  The three mustachioed bakers are oblivious to the boy and prepare to bake the cake in the oven. Rising up from the batter, he constructs an airplane from bread dough and flies up to a milk bottle, falls in (bread dough “clothes” disintegrating), then pours the milk into the bowl for the bakers.  A controversial story because of the nudity, Sendak said in an NPR interview that he was making a statement about the holocaust.

Alligators All Around, Pierre, One Was Johnny, and Chicken Soup with Rice are from a series by Sendak called “The Nutshell Library”. The music heard on this DVD is from Carole King’s TV special “Really Rosie starring The Nutshell Kids”. Her music is a terrific accompaniment to these four clever stories. Alligators All Around teaches the alphabet, One Was Johnny teaches counting forward and backward, and Chicken Soup with Rice teaches the months of the year. I have to admit to being puzzled by “Pierre”, it’s part of this collection but doesn’t teach a specific skill, rather, it deals with a boy who answers “I Don’t Care” to every question he’s asked until he’s eaten by a lion. Doesn’t really fit.

Anyway, please pick up this wonderful Storybook Treasures DVD for your kids and share with them the fascinating world of Maurice Sendak! Sold on Amazon.com for $12.99.