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Jacqueline Wilson, February 2012 Guest Editor: "The text is very minimal but perfect - and the illustrations are glorious. This isn't a scary book in the slightest, though the monsters are grotesque, equipped with very sharp teeth and pointy claws. Little Max in his wolf suit tames them instantly and they declare him king of all wild things. But Max is still a little boy and although he has uproarious fun in the land of the wild things he's clearly glad to be back home where his supper is waiting for him. I've read this story to countless children and they've all loved it, especially when they join in, roaring their terrible roars, gnashing their terrible teeth, rolling their terrible eyes and showing their terrible claws."
Julia Eccleshare: A classic story of the power of a childhood tantrum.
One night Max dresses up in his wolf suit and does all kinds of things he shouldn't, like chasing the dog with a fork. His mother scolds him and calls him a "WILD THING!" Max is so mad he shouts back, "I'LL EAT YOU UP!" As a result, his mother sends him to his bedroom without any supper.
Max's imagination transforms his bedroom into an extraordinary setting, with a forest and an ocean and a little boat that Max sails in until he comes to a land full of "wild things." Although they look and sound very fierce, Max is able to tame them with a single glance. They all realize Max is "..the most wild thing of all" and make him their king. Max and the wild things have a fine time creating a rumpus until Max begins to want to be "…where someone loved him best of all." Max's fantasy ends when he smells his dinner. Despite the wild things' protests, Max sails back to his own room where he finds his supper waiting for him.
Urchin Max rushes round in his wolf-suit: his mother calls him Wild Thing and sends him to bed without his supper. The carpet turns to grass: trees shoot up: an ocean tumbles by'; off he sails to the land where the wild things are - monsters, fearful and funny with frightful claws. Max is made king: there's a wild rumpus and he sends the monsters off to bed without their supper: then he can return home. Magnificently tempestuous and infinitely reassuring.
Gripping, ingenious and uplifting . . . a shrewd, fierce, healing book -- Boyd Tonkin - Independent
This is my never-fail picture book. The text is very short, but utterly perfect, the illustrations are tremendous -- Jacqueline Wilson The key to Sendak's success and to the continuing hipness of his book, is that it's hero is not a good child . . . the book is, in fact, extraordinarily childcentric, a book written for and about terrible infants, the kind of terrible infants that most children really are and that all adults remain for much of the time -- David Baddiel - The Times
The greatest picture book ever written -- Chris Riddell, Children's Laureate - Guardian
Sendak is the daddy of them all when it comes to picture books - the words, the rhythm and the design are all wonderful. - S Magazine, Sunday Express
ISBN: 9780099408390
Publication date: 04/05/2000
Publisher: Red Fox an imprint of Penguin Random House Children's UK
Format: Paperback
| ISBN: | 9780099408390 |
| Publication date: | 4th May 2000 |
| Author: | Maurice Sendak |
| Publisher: | Red Fox an imprint of Penguin Random House Children's UK |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 48 pages |
| Genres: | Children's Fiction, |
| Collections: | 100+ Children’s Books to Read as an Adult - Grown-up But Never Outgrown., |
| Categories: | Picture books, |
Maurice Sendak was born 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. In his lifetime, he illustrated over 80 books, and received many awards, including the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are. In 1970 he was the first American to win the Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator's Medal. He passed away in May 2012.
More About Maurice Sendak
