Where the Wild Things Are

Product Description

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.

Winner, 1964 Caldecott Medal
Notable Children’s Books of 1940–1970 (ALA)
1981 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Illustration
1963, 1982 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 1963, 1982 (NYT)
A Reading Rainbow Selection
1964 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
Children’s Books of 1981 (Library of Congress)
1981 Children’s Books (NY Public Library)
100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1988 (NY Public Library)Amazon.com Review
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.

Where the Wild Things Are

5 Responses to Where the Wild Things Are
  1. Cliff Newman
    December 12, 2009 | 5:31 am

    hoping the movie is better.

    think the book was written for someone MUCH younger.

    having had the most dangerous job in the world for 30 years, the book was a LITTLE slow.

    if I meet an interesting young boy, I will give him the book.

    the idea from [in] the book is mind opening.

    for a kid anyway.

    having been shot 12 times, my mind was already opened too far.
    Rating: 1 / 5

  2. Daddy Oh
    December 12, 2009 | 8:01 am

    Bad role model and scary pictures. I should have read the negative reviews before buying this. I’m going to throw it out after one read.
    Rating: 1 / 5

  3. Anonymous
    December 12, 2009 | 9:01 am

    I don’t understand how this book is on the best seller’s list. The illustrations are scary for young children. The educational value of this book is very negative. Instead of teaching of self discipline and respect for authority, this book promotes disobedience and violence. I know, for years, it has received glowing reviews. I disagree with all of them. This book entered the trash can the day it entered our home.
    Rating: 1 / 5

  4. Anonymous
    December 12, 2009 | 11:18 am

    we are huge book readers in our family and we find this book to be painfully poorly written- the illustrations are beautiful, but, in our opinion mr.sendak should have handed over the story writing to someone else- the story is so bland and has no direction it seems- it was almost as if he drew the pictures first and then tried to make a story of them afterwards- in fact, i am certain this is what he did- there is no story really, it makes little sense-
    i think he drew each picture separately and then tried to come up with a few sentences that made sense for that particular drawing and because of this, the story doesn’t flow-

    and he keeps repeating (quite annoyingly) that “the monsters rolled their terrrible eyes and showed their terrible teeth” because i think he couldn’t think of anything else to say!- look, we love a variety of book styles and subjects but this one rarely gets picked off the shelf as our kids (and we) are not at all interested in it- it’s one thing to have great pictures but if the story isn’t there, the kids won’t want to read it- this could have been a fabulous book because the illustrations are great, but unfortunately, he chose to write the story too- liken it to great actors being in a lousy movie-
    Rating: 1 / 5

  5. Anonymous
    December 12, 2009 | 12:00 pm

    I cannot believe this book is a best seller. Max, the protagonist, is a wild, rude, annoying, little snot-nosed monster. The last thing I want is for my child to model her behavior after him! My daughter received this as a gift and it is now in the trash because I could not bring myself to give it away to another child.
    Rating: 1 / 5

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment. Click here to log in.

Trackback URL http://www.justestuff.com/where-the-wild-things-are/trackback/