Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
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Book Summary Information
Author: Maurice SendakBrand: HARPER COLLINS PUBLISHERS
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1988-11-09
ISBN: 0060254920
Number of pages: 48
Publisher: Harper Collins
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Book Reviews of Where the Wild Things Are
Book Review: There's a reason it's so cherished- this is a special book.
Summary: 5 Stars
Where the Wild Things Are was my book when I was little. You know how you had YOUR book, the one that you'd always want read to you, eventhough you already memorized the words and knew what the pictures were on each page? Yeah, this was mine. I even had a stuffed Moishe back then because I loved the book so much and needed my own Wild Thing. Now that I'm almost 25, and a parent, I can say that this book is still special, and it's not nostalgia that's talking here. Even better, my daughter loves it as much as I did at that age.
If you don't know the story by now, then you should feel silly since this is such a well-known book. Max is a young boy who runs around in his wolf costume. When he's caused enough trouble, his mom sends him to his room without eating anything. Soon though, his room becomes a forest, and he finds a boat that takes him to where the Wild Things are. Here he fits in, and becomes their king, but soon misses home after smelling good things to eat.
That's really the whole story, told with just a few sentences, but also with some amazing illustrations. Every drawing in this book is a treasure in itself. Maurice Sendak will probably always be best known for his drawings here, and that's not a bad thing either- his drawings of the Wild Things were unlike any monsters I'd seen as a little boy, and most other kids when the book came out in the 60s. They're based on his Jewish aunts and uncles (his words, taken from his art collection book), and you have to wonder how they really looked if this is how the drawings turned out. But there are a few wonderful, two-page illustrations here that don't have any text. What's going on is up to you and your child. It works your imagination, and to this day, I can stare at those pages for minutes at a time, thinking up things about what Max and the others are doing during their Wild Rumpus. While I -can- see how the Wild Things might scare some children, they should already know this book's about monsters when you read them the title. Two of them in here really did scare me as a kid, but I'd stay put and let the story finish. Maybe it just depends on what the child's exposed to.
There were a lot of books I'd read on a regular basis when I was little, and most of them can't be found in book stores any more. Where the Wild things Are is seemingly eternal, and is always available at a book store, or a chain store's book section. I hate to sound like a fanboy that can't find anything negative about something he likes, but there's really nothing bad I can say about this book*, and I'm normally good at doing that. The book's short, has gorgeous illustrations, and stands the test of time. While the movie definitely wasn't for everyone, there's always the original book. If you don't have this yet, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy today. Don't you remember the days when you'd have a world all to yourself? This could take you back to that time.
* = Though I do hate the people that have written essays about the different 'themes' of the book, overanalyzing every single little detail and going on about how even the color of Max's boat represents something deeper than it just being a color. Some people, eh?
Summary of Where the Wild Things Are
In the forty years since Max first cried "Let the wild rumpus start," Maurice Sendak's classic picture book has become one of the most highly acclaimed and best-loved children's books of all time. Now, in celebration of this special anniversary, introduce a new generation to Max's imaginative journey to Where the Wild Things Are.
Where the Wild Things Are is one of those truly rare books that can be enjoyed equally by a child and a grown-up. If you disagree, then it's been too long since you've attended a wild rumpus. Max dons his wolf suit in pursuit of some mischief and gets sent to bed without supper. Fortuitously, a forest grows in his room, allowing his wild rampage to continue unimpaired. Sendak's color illustrations (perhaps his finest) are beautiful, and each turn of the page brings the discovery of a new wonder.
The wild things--with their mismatched parts and giant eyes--manage somehow to be scary-looking without ever really being scary; at times they're downright hilarious. Sendak's defiantly run-on sentences--one of his trademarks--lend the perfect touch of stream of consciousness to the tale, which floats between the land of dreams and a child's imagination.
This Sendak classic is more fun than you've ever had in a wolf suit, and it manages to reaffirm the notion that there's no place like home.
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