Where the Wild Things Are

 It’s hard to believe that Where the Wild Thing Are has been around since 1963. In its first year of publication it won many accolades including the prestigious 1964 Caldecott Medal for the ‘Most Distinguished Picture Book of the Year”.  The book was perhaps so successful because it dealt with deep and often dark emotions of children and not many books of the time dared to delve into such subjects.

 I will post a full review of the movie once I have seen it, however, while it is a box office success it is getting mixed reviews. Many children seem to be bored, and adults aren't too interested either - there's no doubt that the animation is good, and the acting great, but I wonder if this every should have been made into a movie - part of the wonder of the book was the amazing pictures, and the ability of the child to imagine the world they were reading about.

Max, a little boy who loves mischief decides to dress up as a Wolf and begin to act out several ‘nasty’ fantasies such as chasing the dog. Sent to his bedroom after his mother calls him a ‘Wild Thing’ he begins to use his imagination to transform his bedroom into a forest with a huge ocean. Max sails into the land of ‘wild things’ and with his ‘abilities’ manages to tame the fierce animals he encounters with a single glance – these animals, realizing they have met their match and possibly met the ‘greatest’ wild thing and therefore make him king of the wild things. His reign is supreme and together they explore and cause all sorts of mayhem.

When you analyze the story you realize it’s about the reluctance of a young boy to deal with the anger he has both at his inability to control his emotions and also his inability to deal with his mother’s ministrations, especially when they she tells him not to do something. It’s a tale of self discovery, rebellion and a realization of what is important and what is not.

It is done in such a gentle way that the story is fun and perfectly good for a very young child to read – it leads them into a fantasy world but also subtly teaches an important lesson.

What really sets this book aside is the wonderful illustrations – the words themselves are very descriptive, but the illustrations bring the book to life, helping the reader to really envisage the wonderful land that Max perceives and also some of the wonderful characters and creatures he meets. The illustrations are cleverly humorous somehow diminishing the potential horror and making the monster almost ‘cute’.

I’m in two minds about a movie – part of the magic of the book is the shared experience of the reader and the young child and the fun the child can have imagining the world where Max has his adventures. When I read this book to my children we used to play games where they were Max and I was a whole bunch of monsters – it really stimulated their imagination and they never got tired of the book or the games.

I worry that once a child has seen the movie, their imagination is cut off a little as they no longer have to imagine the world – I of course will be going to see the movie with my wife and 18 year old daughters, so I will reserve final judgment  (review to be added to Hub in October).

This is one of the best books I’ve read to my children – this and the Hobbit rank as their favorites as they can re-enact the book and become many wonderful characters. The illustrations really help to bring the book to life, and this combined with the wonderful writing make this a classic children’s book that all children should read at least once.