Where the Wild Things Are
1963
- caldecott medal
- dreams
- fantasy
- fantasy fiction
- fiction
- imagination
- juvenile fiction
- miniature books
- monsters
- specimens
The story
This is an inspired children's book about a boy's passage through tempestuous aspects of life. Max, a naughty little boy, sent to bed without his supper, sails to the land of the wild things, where he becomes their king.
What it’s like
Pen-and-ink crosshatching sits over flat washes of color, mostly wolf-suit gray and sea-green, with the wild night forest spreading across the page in loose, tangled lines that gradually open into a wide, moonlit ocean. The book is quiet on the page: spare text, long pauses between spreads, and a rhythm that slows as the bedroom gives way to the island and then eases back toward a warm supper waiting at home. Its mood is mischievous and wistful, a bit wild, never frightening, with the creatures looking more shaggy and goofy than menacing. It suits a slow evening with a child on your lap, a comfort reread on a grey afternoon, or a quiet read alone for anyone who still likes a little imaginative wildness. The emotional arc is a small, rambunctious boy's tantrum turning into a longing for home and comfort. Gentle throughout, with only playful rumpus and mock-fierce roaring and no real violence, gore, or cruelty. For parents, children, and adults who want something tender, funny, and unhurried.
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