Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
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Book Reviews of Where the Wild Things Are
Book Review: One of the great grandaddys of inspiration and imagination!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever wake up mid life and trace some of the earliest inspirations that have shaped who you have grown to become? As I pondered this in recent months, I realized that perhaps this book was one of the core reasons for who I became.
Maurice Sendak created this timeless masterpiece about Max who melts his bedroom walls and journeys to the land where the wild things are. As with the very best of children's literature, this story drives home a core message and through that innate discovery, the root of all of the imaginative world that Sendak surrounds his protagonist in serves to mirror the transformation that his character has journeyed through.
An absolutely timeless allegory, Where The Wild Things Are was perhaps my first exposure to a vibrant imagination that chose to visage the world through very fresh eyes. As I would later found The Illusion Factory and then commence upon creating empowering children's literature with vibrant characters...I looked back and realized that Maurice Sendak and Dr. Seuss were the two men who made an indelible impact on my young mind.
If you are one of the five people on this planet who have never read this book, you should grab the other four and sit down for a mandatory read. Where The Wild Things Are is the benchmark by which all children's illustrated books are measured.
Brian Weiner
CEO
The Illusion Factory
Author, Toad Catchers' Creek
Book Review: The illustrations make the book!
Summary: 5 Stars
According to the characteristics of picture storybooks, this is a high quality book. The text and illustrations equally convey with the storyline. The shape and size of the book is rectangular and does not have page numbers. It includes all of the literary elements. The book's strength is its illustrations. The book received a Caldecott Medal for its illustrations. The author does a nice job of telling the story through the illustrations. The illustrations get larger as Max's imagination grows and start to decrease in size as he returns home. The colors in the beginning of the book are duller than the end of the book. As Max's feelings and mood change, the pictures get brighter. The book's reading level is 3.4 and geared toward a lower grade interest level, however, can be enjoyed by older ages. One concern is that there are monsters in the story even though it is a children's book. Introducing this book to primary students may lead to questions and misconceptions. One instructional activity to handle this situation would be to talk about the monsters. Ask Were they scary? Did they change? Show the pictures of Max being carried by the monsters and the way they dance and play. Talk about feelings and emotions (the monsters and Max were not sure about each other at first, but then they grew to like each other and play together). The students can then draw monster faces depicting an emotion.
Book Review: Wild About Wild
Summary: 5 Stars
Maurice Sendak is one of those great children's book creators who could write and draw. He helped me dream as a young boy, and I should pay him credit for helping me imagine things today.
When I was little, I'd stare at the page long after my mother finished reading it to me. Sendak seemed to have found my creative pulse, as he drew me in to wonder about his world of pretend monsters. The monsters are not quite so terrible, and could be considered friendly.
Max and I are both boys, and it must ordinary for we boys to get in a terrific amount of trouble in the process of playing. I related to Max. He sounded like a real boy. I was never quite sure what a rumpus was, but I knew it sounded like a lot of fun.
The pictures are cool. There is a rich, full-of-flavor tension in the art. The expressions and poses of the characters come across as genuine.
Don't be fooled by the amazing pictures. You'll enjoy the carefully laid story just as much, and your child can close his eyes and imagine his own version.
A wonderful book. A classic. If you've got kids, or if you read to your family's or neighbor's kids, this is one book which will be dog-eared from numerous reads.
I fully recommend "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak.
Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com
Book Review: Speaks to the inner nature of a two-year-old boy
Summary: 5 Stars
My son had me read this so many times that within a week my husband and I could both recite the entire story from memory, which we had to do several times when he (my son) was still restless and fidgety after "lights out." He still pretends he's Max, or he pretends he's a Wild Thing and "shows his terrible claws". (We dramatize it as we read it.) He loves to read Max's part, and gleefully points his finger in the air and shouts "Let the wild rumpus start!"
One day when I dropped him off at daycare, as we sat in the kitchen area with crackers and juice, he listened to all his classmates running around and playing just out of eyesight, and said to me "I hear a wild rumpus!"
Books like this really spark the imagination, and it's just written so beautifully and simply.
There is also a wonderful version of this book on DVD with music written by Peter Shipley (also known as P.D.Q. Bach) and read by him as well. There's actually a number of stories on the DVD, and the great thing is you can choose just one story, and it's maybe 5 minutes long, and then it STOPS. So it's perfect to pop in when you need just a few more minutes in the morning to get your kid's lunch ready, and you don't have to tear them away from the TV. (Also perfect in the evening, because you can say "Just one more video, then up to bed.")
Book Review: A CLASSIC I HAVE LOVED SINCE I WAS THREE
Summary: 5 Stars
I can to this very day remember hearing this story in preschool and loving it. I loved Max, the central character. I thought he was so lucky to have a wolf suit and later, a crown.This charming classic is about a young boy named Max who runs around the house threatening to eat everybody up. He dons a wolf suit to complete his frightening image. Max's mother who has had enough of the boy's antics, remands him to his bedroom without dinner. Once alone, Max creates a wonderful fantasy about sailing far away, for a year and a day, to where the wild things are. The gently illustrated cast of wild things will serve to delight all ages. There is nothing frightening about these gentle beasts and they all bear strong familiar characteristics, e.g., one looks like a giant rooster and anther creature has a buffalo head. Max makes himself the star of this fantasy by crowning himself King of the Wildthings. Homesickness intrudes and Max tells the gentle beasts he has to return home. Using Max's threat, they vow to "eat him up, they love him so." Max stays tough and leaves the wildthings and heads home. Once safely ensconsed in his room, he finds dinner waiting.
It was still hot.
A nice welcoming for Max and a welcome treat for all ages. Even now, many years later, I still love this book.