>> From the Library of
Congress, in Washington, DC.
>> -- thirteenth incumbent
of that position
since the library was
established in 1800.
Under his leadership, the library
has expanded its public outreach,
most notably in major
international exhibits,
and through the establishment of
a new national digital library,
and other electronic services
for users in remote locations.
Well help us, please, in
welcoming Doctor James Billington.
[ Applause ]
>> James Billington:
Thank you very much.
And a special greeting, boys
and girls up front here.
I am Jim Billington,
as they've told you,
I guess, the Library of Congress.
And today I'm going to read
to you from a terrific book,
Where the Wild Things
Are, by Maurice Sendak.
Ooh, wait 'til you hear about them.
Now first of all, how
many of you know
about this book, or
maybe you've read it.
Oh great, great.
So you know all about this one.
And now let's see, let
me see another question.
Any of you ever been wild things
yourself, just a little bit?
Okay. And what about -- I won't
-- don't want to embarrass you,
but how many of you have done a
few little kind of naughty things
in life, and been sent to
your room without dinner?
Has that ever happened
to anybody here?
Well, whether it has -- and
anybody have a crazy dream?
Any -- how many crazy dream
-- dreamers out there?
Oh good. Well listen, you
guys are very experienced.
But let me tell you about this
story, because it's very special.
And imagine, if you
haven't read this story,
that you are this little
character named Max,
because he's very important.
And here he is, Where
the Wild Things Are.
The night that Max wore his
wolf suit, and made mischief
of one kind -- there he is
with a hammer messing
something up -- or another.
A-ha. That's pretty bad,
that poor little dog.
Okay. His mother called him
in, and called him Wild Thing.
And Max said I'll eat you up.
Ooh. So he was sent to bed
without eating anything at all.
That very night in Max's
room, suddenly there he was,
and a forest began to grow.
Wow, a forest in his
room, think of that.
And it grew bigger, and it grew
until his ceiling hung with vines,
and the walls became the
whole world without him,
and the moon shined there.
Wow. And suddenly an ocean tumbled
by with a private boat for Max.
And he sailed off through night
and day, and in and out of weeks,
and almost over a year to
where the wild things were.
Wow. So. And when he came -- came to
the place where the wild things are,
they roared their terrible roars,
and they gnashed their
terrible teeth.
It was awful.
And they rolled their
terrible eyes round and round,
and showed their terrible claws.
Can you show your terrible claws?
Yeah. That's it, that's
what the wild things did.
Okay. Wow.
What happens next?
Till Max said be still, and tamed
them with his magic trick of staring
into their yellow eyes
without blinking once.
And they were frightened, and called
him the most wild thing of all,
and made him king of
all wild things.
And now, cried Max, let
the wild rumpus start.
Ho-ho. And there it is, rumpledie
dumpledie dumpus, here they are.
Wow, they're really having a ball.
Ho, hanging from the trees.
Do you ever hang from anything?
Yeah, well they are, yes indeed.
They are really, and look at them.
And who's on top?
That's Max.
He's king of the wild things.
Now stop, Max said, and
put the wild things off
to bed without their supper.
And Max, the king of all
wild things, was lonely.
He wanted to be where
someone loved him best of all.
Then all around him from far away
across the world he smelled
something good to eat.
Mmm. So he gave up being king
of where the wild things are,
and the wild things cried,
however, oh please don't go.
We'll eat you up, we love you so.
Max said no.
Let's all be Max, say no.
The wild things roared
their terrible roars,
and they gnashed their
terrible teeth,
and they rolled their terrible eyes,
and showed their terrible claws.
Yes, they did.
But Max stepped into his private
boat, and he waved goodbye,
and said back over a year, and in
and out of weeks, and through a day,
and into the night
of his very own room,
where he found his
supper waiting for him.
And guess what?
It was still hot, there
waiting for him.
And so, and so, and
so, and so, and so.
So that is the story of Max.
And it was still hot,
dinner waiting for him,
and yes he was back in his own room.
So let's all wave goodbye
to the wild things,
keep them out of our mind.
Stay clear of the terrible
claws, and just have a blast
at the National Book Festival.
[ Applause ]
We love you all.
Thanks a lot.
Good, everyone.
Thank you.
>> This has been a presentation
of the Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.