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By STEVE SUMERFORD

Loved the book. Totally divided on the movie.

That’s how readers responded to my column last Sunday about “Where the Wild Things Are,” the children’s book by Maurice Sendak (“‘Wild Things’ had a champion in Greensboro,” Nov. 1).

Here is what one parent wrote about the movie:

“My 7-year-old son, a very social and independent child, went to see the movie with a birthday party. From the time I picked him up from the party, he has talked about how much the movie bothered him. He has been very emotional all week and says he just can’t stop thinking about the movie. When I’ve asked what specifically bothered him in the movie, he has not been able to identify the exact source of his anxiety and at times anger. ... I would urge parents to carefully consider before allowing their child to see this movie.”

Another parent wrote to say that she decided to see the movie first without her children, ages 8 and 10, so she could decide if it was appropriate. “I didn’t expect the movie to be so intense.”

She is now reluctant to take them.

But another parent, Michele Richardson, said, “Jackson, my 5-year-old, loved it. He wasn’t scared at all.”

After seeing it with a group of other adults, Marilyn Miller, the Greensboro librarian who championed the book back in 1963 when it was being denounced as too frightening, wondered if the movie was actually intended for children.

Good question. The movie is rated PG (Parental Guidance Suggested).

Even though some adults have reservations about the appropriateness of the movie for young children, they themselves thoroughly enjoyed watching Max and the wild things romping around on the big screen.

“I thought it was an interesting interpretation and expansion of the book,” said one moviegoer.

That sentiment was echoed by several others who wrote.

And even adults who found it disturbing commented that the film effectively probes some of the painful experiences every child has at some time in his or her childhood — loneliness, feeling misunderstood, being betrayed by friends and loved ones.

On the other hand, raves, nothing but raves, is how I’d describe the e-mails I received about the original book on which the movie was based.

One of my favorite comments was from Russ Williams, executive director of the N.C. Zoological Society, who said he had read it hundreds of times to his two sons and enjoyed every single reading.

“It is perfect,” he said. “Add a word or take away a word, and it would be diminished. The words, the flow, the art! It’s just perfect! This book, more than any other book, is how I shared my love of reading with my both my sons.”

He added  he had recently read the book again to his son and  it was a special experience for both of them.

What made this particular reading so unusual? His son is now 20 years old!

Tammy Miller, a children’s librarian whose duties include selecting all of the picture books for the Greensboro Public Library, praised the book for the precision of its language.

“ ‘Where the Wild things Are’ achieves an economy of language that is rare, yet so satisfying, in a picture book,” she said.

“Sendak doesn’t have to explain that Max’s mother understood him, made him accountable for his behavior and then forgave him. All of that is conveyed by 11 words: His supper was waiting for him and it was still hot.”

‘Small Moth,’ big exposure

Things are going great these days for Greensboro poet Sarah Lindsay. One of her poems, “Small Moth,” was published in one of the nation’s best-selling magazines, Reader’s Digest. Another poem, “What They Found,” was selected as one of the top five poems of the past year. Another of her poems is included in “The Best American Poetry 2009.”

And, if that’s not enough good news, Sarah also has won a couple of national awards recently.

Her latest book is “Twigs & Knucklebones,” published by the prestigious Copper Canyon Press.

‘Enrique’s Journey’

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Sonia Nazario will discuss her book, “Enrique’s Journey: The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother” at UNCG from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday   in the Sullivan Science Building Auditorium. This session is free and open to the public.

The book, a true story of a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the United States, was selected for UNCG’s 2009-10 All-Campus Read.

For more information, contact barry_miller@uncg.edu.

Decimal Points is a regular feature on the Books page.

Steve Sumerford is assistant director of the Greensboro Public Library. Contact him at 373-3636 or steve.sumerford @greensboro-nc.gov