Where the Wild Things Are

Author: Maurice Sendak
Genre: Picture book, fantasy
Publisher: Harper & Row, Publishers
Copyright Date: 1963
Pages of Book: 37
Reading level: Ages 4-8

Summary
Along with a fantastic story about adventure, love, and forgiveness, "Where the Wild Things Are" has wonderful illustrations. Most of the pictures reach the edge up the page, and there are even some pages that are completely covered with illustrations. The colors are more blues, greens, and grayish to go along with the "mood" of the story. It begins with Max, our main character, who misbehaves and is sent to his room without any dinner. Alone in his room, he then uses his imagination to create his own little world--he sails across the ocean and finds a place where "Wild Things" are. He goes on adventures with them, until finally he realizes that he misses being somewhere where "someone loved him best of all". Once he realizes this, he leaves the Wild Things and travels back home to find his dinner waiting for him and it's still warm. "Where the Wild Things Are" is a great story of real love and also of adventure. Anyone can fall in-love with this story!

My Reaction
I absolutely love this book. The story, the pictures, everything. I loved it the first time I ever read it! I think the message is great, and I also think that Max's imagination can really appeal to younger children.

Recommendations
I would recommend that every parent read this book to their children. It's a great story; a classic! Like I've said before, the message can relate to any young child and they will absolutely love the imagination and adventure in the story.

Potential Problems/Conflicts
Some parents may not like the fact that there are "monsters" in the book. Also, Max originally makes up his imaginary world because he was causing all kinds of mischief, and some parents might think that this could cause their children to misbehave as well.