Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Not only does this book have great illustrations, but the story also teaches a valuable lesson. The story starts off with Max, a little boy who is wild and very imaginative, and he is running around the house getting into mischief while wearing his wolf suit. He gets into trouble and is sent to bed without eating anything. He then imagines his room becoming a forest, and then he sails across the ocean in his private boat. He pretends to sail across time, from days to months to a year, to where the wild things are. He arrives at an island full of wild things, which are huge monster like creatures. They tried to scare Max by gnashing their teeth and showing their claws, but Max tells them to "Be still!" He does a magic trick which tames the wild things, and then they make him king. They have a wild "rumpus" (I love that word!) where they dance around, hang from trees, and just act kind of wild. Then, Max sends the wild things to bed without their supper. He then gets lonely and decides that he wants to come home to where he is loved. He travels back across the ocean of time and arrives back in the same time frame where the story started. He finds that his supper is waiting for him, and it is still hot.

This book really encourages kids to let their imaginations run wild, and it shows the more adventurous side of children's thought processes, which can sometimes be neglected. Though girls can definitely be mischievous and adventurous, to me it seems that this book appeals to boys because it includes Max taming monsters and running around in his wolf suit. The fact that this book encourages children to be creative and imaginative leads me to really want to read this book to my future students! With all of the standardized testing and curriculum, it seems that creativity can be neglected. However, this book shows that it is great to imagine things! Another great thing about this book is that Max tamed the wild things, which could represent him conquering his fears of the big animals. Children can take practical application from this and realize that they too can face their fears and conquer them. In my future classroom, I would read this book to talk about the topics I already discussed, and to show students that even though they may want to run away from problems and fears, in reality they can find a safe place to rest, whether it's at their home, or in my classroom at school. I realize that some students do not have a good home life, so they may not feel loved and safe at home, but I want them to know that they can at least feel loved at school as they become part of the classroom community.