Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Sendak, M., & Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: Harper & Row.

This Caldecott Medal winning book is about a young boy, named Max who tends to get into mischief. His mother calls him “wild thing”, which Max doesn’t’ like and snaps back at his mom telling her he will “eat her up”. Mom sends Max to bed without eating, but Max has other ideas. Max starts using his imagination and before he knows it, his room is growing a forest, along with an ocean, and a private boat for Max to sail. Before long he comes to a place where the wild things are. The wild things tried to frighten Max, but it didn’t work. Max was able to frighten the scary looking creatures even though he was smaller than them. They all danced, swung from trees, and had a good time, until Max got lonely and wanted to go home. The end of the story brings Max back to reality, when his mom ends up making supper for him. This classical book brings to life the innocence of children’s playful imaginations, and is a reminder of how vivid they can be. This is a relatively short book, however, the imaginative descriptions detail Max’s journey through his creative imagination. In the middle of the book, there is no text, and only the pictures are given the opportunity to tell the story. The exquisite sketch–like illustrations give the drawings texture and shadowing. The dark sketches and shadowing create an understanding of the magical world Max is in. I recommend this book to young readers because they can relate, as they have used their imaginations throughout their childhood while playing pretend.