Bumble-Ardy

What the heck even was this book… Following the story of an orphaned pig (the titular Bumble-ardy) who managed to miss all of his birthday parties growing up, Sendak attempts to recreate the wild abandon and hilarity of his smash-hit story The Wild Things, but somehow falls short. He uses similar staging to graphically tell the story, setting up the sad circumstances of Bumble-ardy’s non-birthdays with small scenes before segwaying into a raucious full-page celebration as the party gets going, but the narrative doesn’t hold quite the same charm nor do the barnyard cast hold a candle to Max and his Wild Things. Maybe Sendak’s motivation was an attempt to recreate the Wild Things adventure but on a smaller scale and with less show more potentially frightening characters, but instead he has washed the entire tension and excitement from the story and made it dull. Sorry, Sendak, but we much prefer the original wild rumpus! show less

The more I read Sendak, the more I realize just how dark and weird his mind was. But I also want to read more?? I couldn't stop looking at all of the weird costumes the swine wore to Bumble-Ardy's secret party.

Published in 2011, this later work by the famed children's book author Maurice Sendak is very familiar in the inclusion of a naughty protagonist and unconditional love. Bumble-ardy has never been allowed to celebrate a birthday. Bumble-ardy is allowed to celebrate a birthday, his 9th, after his parents 'got ate' when he was eight years old. One can infer that the tenuous existence of a farm pig did not lend itself to the celebration of life that in most cases would end in bacon. However, look closely, and you will find a reference to the book, 'Charlotte's Web' in the illustrations, as a pig holds a small banner reading, 'some swill pig'. Some pigs are spared the fate. The illustrations are psychedelic and conjure up images from The show more Beatles, 'Yellow Submarine' film. So many pictures to look closely at, so much to miss if one does not examine them closely. A pleasure to read into so much more than the words. show less

Bizarre, wild, and a little dark.... almost an allegory of teenagers stealing little tastes of freedom.

Like many of Sendak's other books, the illustrations get a bit strange at some point. Yet, they keep you interested. This book is about a pig who doesn't get parties for his birthdays. He was adopted by his aunt and decides to throw himself a party without her knowing. Of course, she is not too happy when she finds all the guests in her house. In the end, aunt Adeline loves Bumble-Ardy. I thought it was interesting that Bumble-Ardy's birth month and the day is the same as the authors. At the beginning of the book, the pig is crying and reading a newspaper that has an article titled, We read Banned Books!

This is one of Maurice Sendak's final books. It starts off rather sad with Bumble-Ardy losing his parents. However, he is taken in by his aunt who truly loves him and he loved her back. Bumble-Ardy has never had a birthday party and decides to throw one for himself without the knowledge of his aunt. But, in the end all is forgiven and the love between aunt and nephew remains strong. The illustrations are wacky and a bit creepy, but the overall message is heartwarming.

In typical Sendak fashion, this is a strange story about a misbehaving child. Children will like the the fun rhymes, the interesting artwork, and will perhaps identify with the character that goes too far when planning something he's excited about. They will also definitely identify with the fear that Bumble-Ardy feels when faced with the anger of his guardian.