Review: Wild Things by Bruce Handy

Bruce Handy’s book about the joy of reading children’s literature as an adult is built on the most frustrating (and false) axiom of childhood: “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

I come to Handy’s Wild Things from within his own camp. I believe, like he and so many other writers, artists, educators and librarians do, that children’s literature is a serious form and that it should be taken seriously. So, here is Handy to lend his credibility as an author and writer of more serious works. That is to say, works that adults are more prepared to take seriously; Handy is a journalist, critic and humorist before he is a children’s book author. His credibility is not unwelcome but it feels wasted here. While the prose is dressed for the occasion – curious, funny, personal – Wild Things rarely goes anywhere dangerous, relying instead on familiar readings of the 20th century’s most well-known works.

Handy shines a warm light on the world of children’s literature but hardly sets it on fire.