WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak

1.  BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sendak, Maurice. 1963. WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0060254920

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

One night Max dresses up and creates all kinds of mischief nailing nails into the wall and chasing the dog with a fork.  Max’s mom calls him “WILD THING!” and his emotions get the best of him and he shouted back “I’LL EAT YOU UP!”  His mom did not appreciate his behavior so she sent him to bed without dinner.  His imagination continues to get the best of him as his room transforms into a forest, an ocean, and a land where the “wild things” live.  When he arrives at the land of the wild things they look and sound very fierce but they do not scare Max.  He is able to tame them by telling them “BE STILL!” and staring into their eyes.  The wild things realize that Max is “…the most wild thing of all” and make him their king.  They have a huge rumpus in his honor.  Max begins to realize he “…wanted to be where someone loved him best of all.”  He sails back home to his bedroom where he finds his supper waiting for him.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Sendak captures Max’s wild, dark side through his text and illustrations.  Max’s behavior, emotions, and imagination truly come out throughout this book.  Max’s behavior in this story might be troublesome to some parents; however, this book can be used as a teachable moment.  Max learns if he creates mischief he will be punished perhaps by being sent to bed without supper.  In the end it is a story of unconditional love when he returns to “…his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him.”

Sendak’s illustrations are definitely award winning with his attention to detail.  The illustrations match the text making this more easily understood by young children.  The first illustration shows the reader just what kind of mischief this boy is getting himself into.  The illustrations show the dark side of Max’s emotions to the depths of his imagination.  Sendak’s illustrations speak for themselves on the series of wordless pages showing the “wild rumpus.”

4.  REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

*SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL:  “Each word has been carefully chosen and the simplicity of

the language is quite deceptive”

*Barnes and Noble: “Marvelous pictures and the superb story combine to make this a quintessential picture book.”

*1964 Caldecott Medal Winner

*Boston Globe- Horn Book Award for Illustrations

5.  CONNECTIONS

*Vocabulary lesson/Tune into Interesting Words – WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE is full of rich vocabulary such as mischief, tumbled, gnashed, tamed, rumpus, and many more wonderful words.  Teachers and students together could create a chart with words from the book and their definitions.  Students could refer to the chart to help them while reading and to use during writing.

*Making Connections/Text to Self – Have the students make text to self connections while reading the book.  They will probably connect most with Max getting into trouble and the way he reacted to his punishment.  Discuss how Max reacted to being sent to bed without supper and brainstorm things people might do when they feel sad or worried about something.  Then discuss which of them would be the best response or solution and why.

*Story Elements – Discuss characters, plot, setting, problem, and solution with the class.  For this lesson focus mainly on the problem and solution of Max’s behavior.