Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

 

Title: Where the Wild Things are
Genre: Fantasy

Author/Illustrator: Maurice Sendak

Major Awards: Caldecott Award

Age group: Kinder-3rd

Summary

This story follows a young boy named Max.  Max is running amok in his house and his other sends him off to his room because of it.  In his room Max cannot believe that his mom sent him to his room, so his walls turn into jungle and suddenly he is transported into a forest with wild monsters and huge trees.  Max then becomes the king of the wild things as they have all conceded that he is the wildest of them all.  They all begin to dance the whole night away when he remembers how much he misses his mom.  The monsters do not want their king to go however Max wants to return home to his mom.  So then he goes home and supper and his mom are both waiting.

Evaluation

This story is filled with the child-like imagination that all children have experienced.  I think this book could be used to show kids how powerful their imagination can be and that sometimes in order to calm down and recollect themselves they need to jump into another space that they create.  I also believe this shows creativity and how one can turn something simple like a wolf suit and four bedroom walls into monsters and jungle.  Lastly, I believe that when Max comes back from his imagination and to his real world place is healthily illustrates to kids the difference of real and make believe.  Because of the targeted audience level I would not use this book in my classroom.