Where the Wild Things Are

Sendak, Maruice. 1984. Where the Wild Things Are. Harper Collins. ISBN 0060254939

Plot Summary

Max is causing mischief of all kinds--until his mom sends him to his room. From there, he is magically transported to a forest, across an ocean, into a land of Wild Things. But Max is not scared of the wild things; Max becomes the king of wild things! They have a terrific rumpus before Max sends them off to bed. In the silence, he starts to feel lonely, and decides to travel back. While being a king of wild things is great fun, there's nothing like coming home.

Critical Analysis

Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are is one of those classics I had never read before. At first, I was less than impressed. The language, while simple, seemed awkwardly broken up between pages, making it difficult to read out loud to my son. While I liked the vintage illustrations, I wasn't convinced it deserved to be on the best-seller list.

After a week went by from my first read-through, I picked the book back up and let it speak to me again. This time, as a silent read, I enjoyed the rhythm of the words with the pages. The simplicity of the sentences, the repetition of words ("terrible roars," "terrible teeth," "terrible eyes," "terrible claws"), gave the story the voice of a child narrator.

The story gave a deliberate journey into, then out of, the imaginary world of the wild things, helping to separate the real from the action of the mind. As Max makes his journey, you can imagine him in the real world, learning to harness and subdue his wild tendencies. And in the end, home is always waiting, no matter how much mischief you've caused.

The illustrations use a subdued color palate with black cross-hatch shading. The creatures themselves are actually rather scary looking, but they don't inspire fear because Max is in control.


Professional Reviews

1964--Caldecott Medal

From School Library Journal: Each word has been carefully chosen and the simplicity of the language is quite deceptive.


Connections:

Other books by Maurice Sendak:

• In the Night Kitchen (1996)
• Outside Over There (1989)
• Higglety, Pigglety Pop! Or, There Must Be More to Life (1979)

Watch the film adaptation (available at amazon.com). Note that the film is PG, and may not be suitable for young audiences.