Where+the+Wild+Things+Are

Title: //Where the Wild Things Are// Author/Illustrator: Maurice Sendak Publication Year: 1963 Publisher: Harper and Row Caldecott Medal Winner Ages: PreK-9th Type: Picture Book Main Characters: Max, various Wild Things

Summary: Max is a young boy who has an argument with his mother and is sent to his room without his supper. He goes to bed and imagines that he is in a far away place with monsters. The story details his adventures with the various wild things, but he quickly becomes bored and returns to reality to find his hot supper waiting for him.

Categories: Recommended for Gifted students. Deals with imagination, self-discovery, and escape, as well as social/emotional issues of fitting in and getting along with others. Gifted child. Monsters, mythology. Anger.

Link to Wed English Teacher Lesson Plans for //Where the Wild Things Are:// []

//Where the Wild Things Are// is one of those truly rare books that can be enjoyed equally by a child and a grown-up. If you disagree, then it's been too long since you've attended a wild rumpus. Max dons his wolf suit in pursuit of some mischief and gets sent to bed without supper. Fortuitously, a forest grows in his room, allowing his wild rampage to continue unimpaired. Sendak's color illustrations (perhaps his finest) are beautiful, and each turn of the page brings the discovery of a new wonder. The wild things--with their mismatched parts and giant eyes--manage somehow to be scary-looking without ever really being scary; at times they're downright hilarious. Sendak's defiantly run-on sentences--one of his trademarks--lend the perfect touch of stream of consciousness to the tale, which floats between the land of dreams and a child's imagination. This Sendak classic is more fun than you've ever had in a wolf suit, and it manages to reaffirm the notion that there's no place like home. //--This text refers to the [|**Paperback**] edition.//
 * Amazon.com Review**

"Each word has been carefully chosen and the simplicity of the language is quite deceptive." -- SLJ.
 * Review**

"The clearer reproductions of the original art are vibrant and luminous [in this edition]." -- H.

Link to: [] After reading the story, have children create their own wild self using the tools at the Build Your Wildself website. After completion, print out the pictures and the children write about themselves, and/or email their Wild Self to their parents. (Kindergarten) Candy