Are you worried that the film adaptation of best-selling kids' book Where the Wild Things Are will be too disturbing for children? Keep it to yourself. Whatever you do, don't ask Wild Things author Maurice Sendak.

"I would tell them to go to hell," Sendak says when asked by Newsweek what he'd tell worried parents.

What should kids do if they have trouble dealing with the movie? "Go home," says the author. "Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it's not a question that can be answered." Sendak, we're sure, is a nice guy.

Sendak famously based the monsters in his story on the strange, non-English-speaking foreign relatives who visited his home as a child. "They grabbed you and twisted your face, and they thought that was an affectionate thing to do," he says. "And I knew that my mother's cooking was pretty terrible, and it also took forever, and there was every possibility that they would eat me, or my sister or my brother."

Sinatra letter appraised at $15,000

A letter Frank Sinatra wrote to Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago newspaper columnist Mike Royko in 1972 has been appraised at $15,000 - good news for Vie Carlson, 84, a great-grandmother in Rockford, Ill., who has owned it for 33 years.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Sinatra's letter, which referred to Royko as a "pimp," was part of a running feud between the two men that started when Royko dissed the legendary singer in the Chicago Daily News.

The columnist complained that during his shows in Chicago, Sinatra had a 24-hour police detail at his hotel. He also alleged that Sinatra wore a hairpiece.

Sinatra dispatched a two-page letter refuting Royko's allegations. He challenged the writer to a hair-pulling duel.

In 1976, Royko auctioned off the letter as part of a fund-raising effort for the Salvation Army. Carlson had the winning bid of $400.

Carlson says she had the letter appraised at a taping of PBS's Antiques Roadshow. "I just about had a heart attack," she tells the Tribune about finding out the letter's worth. She has since put it up for auction.

Want to bid for it? It'll be auctioned off next spring at Freeman's Auctioneers in Philly. Info: www.freemansauction.com.

Giving thanks . . . on ice

Skating stars Scott Hamilton and Dorothy Hamill will hit the ice with fellow ice-heads Nancy Kerrigan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Johnny Weir, and Rachael Flatt for the Fox TV Thanksgiving special Kaleidoscope. The show, which will feature a live performance by Olivia Newton-John, will pay homage to women who have helped in the battle against breast cancer.

The show will be taped Nov. 16 at Verizon Center in Washington and will air Nov. 26 at 4 p.m. following Fox's football telecast. Info: www.womenandcancer.com.

Tidbits 'n' pieces

Samantha Who? star Jennifer Esposito, 36, has become engaged to Australian pro tennis player Mark Philippoussis, 32. JE was previously wed to Bradley Cooper.

Annie Leibovitz, famed photographer of the famous, tells Katie Couric she was mortified to learn that the White House family photo she recently took was missing a key member of President Obama's family - the first dog, Bo Obama. "They're taking another photograph that does have Bo in it," AL says.

Bringing back Grrrl Power!

Sarah McLachlan's '90s all-female traveling music extravaganza, Lilith Fair, will return with a new tour in summer, 11 years after it was last held in 1999.

Organizers have announced the first 18 tour stops, which include Philly. No info on show dates or the musical lineup.

Lilith Fair ran from '97 through '99 and featured Grrrl stars Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera, Erykah Badu, The Dixie Chicks, Missy Elliott, The Pretenders, Jewel, and Queen Latifah. Info: www.lilithfair.com.

Silent classic with live music

Organist Don Kinnear, considered one of the best silent-film accompanists in the Northeast, will accompany a Halloween screening of the Lon Chaney-starring 1923 production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame Saturday at 8 p.m. at Old Pine Street Presbyterian Church, 412 Pine St.

Kinnear, who lives in West Point, near Lansdale, began his musical career on Halloween night in 1963 accompanying the very same film at his alma mater, Drexel University. Info: 215-334-7909.

Lopez books heavyweights

George Lopez's hyped talk show on TBS will debut Nov. 9 with an impressive lineup of guests: Ellen DeGeneres, Eva Longoria and Kobe Bryant, says USAToday.com. Subsequent guests will include Sandra Bullock, Ray Romano, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Alba, Charlie Sheen, Queen Latifah, Marc Anthony, Ted Danson, Andy Garcia, Larry David, Oscar de la Hoya, Kelly Osbourne, and Arsenio Hall. Yo! What about Jon and Kate Gosselin? And that sadly ignored pornboy Levi Johnston?

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Contact "SideShow" at sideshow@phillynews.com.

This column contains information from Inquirer wire services.