Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are

Author: Maurice Sendak

Genre: Fiction

Grade Level: Grades K-4

Year Published: 1963

Summary

This is a story about a little boy who was sent to bed without supper because he was being mischievous. When he gets to his room, it turns into a huge forest and Max sails away on an ocean to the land where the wild things are. While there, Max is made king of the wild things. He has many adventures and festivities with his new friends, the "wild things." After a while (we are unclear how long he is there) in this land, Max decides to go home and goes back to his room, where his supper is waiting for him, still hot. 

About the Author

Maurice Sendak was born in Brooklyn, and his parents were Polish-Jewish immigrants. He had a tough early life, which he attributed to losing his extended family to the horrors of the Holocaust. He grew to love books early in life, when he was ill and confined to his bed, and decided to become an illustrator as well, after he watched the movie Fantasia. This book, Where The Wild Things Are, won a Caldecott Medal. He is a widely acclaimed illustrator. Maurice died on May 8, 2012, from complications of a stroke.

Source: http://www.nndb.com/people/275/000023206/

How to Use it

The main idea of this book is that children can really use their imaginations and create whole worlds based on their own imaginations. Another main theme of the book is that even though Max was having a lot of fun where the wild things were, he still wanted to go home to where he knew his mother loved him.

Pre-Reading: Discuss with the class the kinds of worlds that they would like to visit if they could go anywhere using their imaginations. What kinds of creatures would live there? What would it look like? What would their role be in the world? Have a few children share their ideas with the class.

 

Post-Reading: As an ending activity, I think it would be good for the kids to each make posters of a world that they would travel to in their imaginations, if they could go anywhere. They would have to make a detailed, illustrated poster and also write a paragraph describing what they depicted in the poster. This encourages a wide use of their imaginations. This could also be adapted for younger ages, where they could simply draw and label the pictures. 

 

What do I Think?

This is, with no doubt, a classic children's book. I remember reading it over and over again when I was a child! It could be used in a classroom for many different purposes, and I have used it myself in kindergarten and first grade. I think that this book is timeless, and that it should definitely be a part of any classroom elementary library.