With Spike Jonze's film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are opening this Friday, New York City marketing and tourism organization NYC & Company has teamed up with Warner Brothers Pictures for "Wild Things Week in NYC." An ode to the book's author, a local, the festival has free activities for children scheduled in all five boroughs through Friday.
"[It's] fitting that we celebrate the big-screen release of Maurice Sendak’s treasured childhood story here in his hometown where he found the inspiration to write the book,” said NYC & Company C.E.O. George Fertitta in a press release touting the programming.
And if Sendak is the motivation for the project, it makes sense that one of the week's bigger initiatives focuses on the Brooklyn-born author's larger body of work. The Morgan Library and Museum currently has a monthlong exhibition on Sendak's rarely seen artwork, including sketches of characters and book covers from Where the Wild Things Are.
The rest of the programming largely focuses on children, with special workshops and readings scheduled daily at children's museums in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. The New York Public Library will also use its Bryant Park main branch to host film stars Max Records, Catherine Keener, and Forest Whitaker reading the book Tuesday evening before the premiere.
The Museum of Modern Art will play host to Warner Brothers' official after-party, following a screening at Alice Tully Hall.
