Summary
One night Max dresses up in his wolf costume and
makes mischief throughout the whole house. His mother addresses his wild-like
behavior and sends Max to bed without supper after he talked back to her. His
anger is processed by his imagination that takes him on a magical journey to
“where the wild thing are”. There, the dreadful looking creatures deem Max as
their king and celebrate his reign with a big rumpus. Max enjoys his time with
the wild things but finds himself homesick and longs to be back home, “where
someone loved him best of all”. He leaves the wild things, despite their
protest and sails back to his room, where he finds his supper waiting for him.
Genre
Picturebook
"A format [with] a unique combination of text and art [which] includes examples from many different literary genres" (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, p.12). "The central idea [of picturebooks] is the essential unity, harmony, or 'synergy' of the words and illustrations [where] the words tell us things that are not in pictures, and the pictures tell us things that the words overlook. [...] [In wordless picturebooks] the visual images carry the narrative by themselves" (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe, 2010, p.56)
Classification
"magical realism"
Magical realism blurs "the line between contemporary realistic fiction and fantasy” (Galda,
Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.212). The context deals with strong realities such as
mischievous children but blurs into the world of fantasy when coping with these
strong realities.
Illustrations
The book’s illustrations depicts elements of fantasy in forms of surreal pictures. The wild things are monstrous creatures and resemble “images experienced in dreams or nightmares or in a state of hallucination” (Galda, Cullinan, & Sipe. 2010, p.82). One of the most interesting artistic aspects of the
illustrations is Sendak’s use of space. The illustrations start out relatively
small but enlarge and fill the space as the story progresses. The enlargements
correlates to Max’s state of imagination. Another interesting artistic feature
is Sendak’s use of texture. He applies the cross-hatching technique, that
causes a three dimensional effect and a mysterious, dreamlike atmosphere. The
latter also reflects in his use of a pale and dim color palette.
Classroom Activities
Reader Response Questions
- Why did Max get sent to his room with no dinner? What happened to his room that night?
- How long did it take Max to get to where the Wild Things were? How did he get there?
- How did the Wild Things greet Max when he arrived on the island? What did Max say to them? How did they react?
- What was the first thing Max did after he became king?
- Why did Max leave the island?
- Do you think this story could be true?
- Do you think the title of this story was a good choice?
Activity 1
Discuss what Max did when he was feeling wild. (e.g.
wore his wolf costume, did mischief, yelled at his mother, created a rumpus
with the wild things, etc.). Have the text reflect on student’s own self by
filling out a worksheet “When I feel Wild…”. Display students’ work in the classroom.
Activity 2
After having read the book, watch the movie version
of Where the Wild Things Are (2009).
Have the students fill out a “Compare and Contrast” worksheet and discuss
results with the whole class. Watch “Where the Wild Things Are - What’s the
Difference?” on www.youtube.com as an
additional resource.
Personal Response
I really liked this book and believe it should be an
addition to every home or classroom library. It is self-explanatory that Where the Wild Things Are won the Randolph
Caldecott Medal in 1964 for being the most distinguished picture book of the year.
Maurice Sendak’s wild thing creatures are iconic and truly one of the kind. His
illustrations are simple in design, yet detailed enough to be appealing to the children’s
eye. The story line is easy for children to follow even when only focusing on
the visualizations and not the text. I especially enjoyed the wordless series
of illustrations that expands over six pages in which Max and the wild things
engage in a wild rumpus.
I presented the picture book to my children who also
responded positively to Maurice Sandek’s illustrations. We laughed and giggled
and I felt a sense of unity. We enabled ourselves to join Max’s journey through
the mystical realms of his imagination. The illustrations helped us to adapt
our feelings to Max’s feelings. I explained to my children, that the monsters
are big and scary, just as negative emotions like anger can be big and
frightening to us, but we must never forget the positive emotions, that is
love, which we experience from our loved ones.
Similar Works
- Leonardo, the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems
- The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson
- A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
Author's Background Information
very rare interview with Maurice Sendak:
Maurice Sendak was born on June 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York. He
began by illustrating other authors' books for children, but the first book
that he both wrote and illustrated was Kenny's Window, published in 1956. Since
then he has illustrated over eighty books, and has won many awards: In 1964 he won the Randolph Caldecott Medal; in 1970 he was the first
American to win the Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator's Medal; in 1978 the
University of Boston made him Doctor of Humane Letters; and in 1983 he won the
Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal for a 'substantial and lasting contribution to
literature for children over a period of years'. Sendak died on May 08, 2012, at age 83, in Danbury, Connecticut from complications of a stroke.
Other Books
- Very Far Away (1957)
- In the Night Kitchen (1970)
- Outside Over There (1981)
- Bumble-Ardy (2011)
References
Galda, L., Cullinan, B.E., & Sipe, L.R. (2010).
Literature and the child (7th ed.). Belmond, CA:Wadsworths,
Inc.
Maurice Sendak. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2016,
from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Maurice-Sendak/e/B000AQ1O5O
Mrs Jump's
class: Wild Thing You Make My Heart Sing! (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2016,
from http://www.deannajump.com/2012/02/wild-thing-you-make-my-heart-sing.html
Sendak, M.,
& Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: Harper
& Row.
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