Where+the+Wild+Things+Are+2

=**Where the Wild Things Are** = 

Book Review by Chelsey Angeli  **Bibliographical Information:** Author: Maurice Sendak Illustrator: Maurice Sendak ISBN-13: 9780060254926 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Publication date: 11/28/1988 Edition description: 25th Anniversary Edition Edition number: 25 Pages: 48 Age range: 3 - 5 Years Language: English

**Author Biography:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Maurice “Bernard” Sendak was born on June 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York. His first professional job was as an illustrator while he was still in high school. He illustrated a newspaper comic strip called “Mutt and Jeff.” He later worked as a window-display director for F.A.O. Schwartz, a famous New York toy store. He did this while attending night school at the Arts Students League. He was then given a chance by Ursula Nordstrom to write and illustrate his first children’s book. After his first book he became a prolific author-illustrator. He was known for his crazy characters and amazing themes. He has won many awards for books such as //Chicken Soup with Rice// and //In the Night Kitchen//. He even won the Caldecott Medal for this book, //Where the Wild Things Are//. Even though Sendak has caused controversy he has become one of the best-known and beloved author-illustrator of children’s books.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Summary:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">This is a book about a boy named Max who likes to cause mischief. He is dressed in his wolf suit and is being loud and terrible throughout his house. His mother then sends him to his room without eating dinner. Max does not seem to care. His room then turns into a jungle with an ocean. Max gets into a boat and sails for a long time across the ocean. He ends up in a land of the Wild Things. All the Wild Things roared and showed their claws until Max tamed them by staring into their yellow eyes without blinking once. They then called him “the most wild thing of all” and he became their king. They all started to be wild and cause more mischief. However, Max became lonely and wanted to go back home. The Wild Things were angry he was leaving and showed their anger, but Max left anyway. Max sailed across the ocean for years, weeks, and even days to return back to his room. He then found his supper waiting for him and it was still hot.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Book Review:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">I personally love this book. I grew up reading this book and I always found it so interesting. It was exciting and unpredictable to me. I believe that it is a good book for children to read because it shows them how much of an imagination and how creative Max is throughout the story, which can portray what it means to use one’s imagination. I also really enjoy the illustrations throughout the book. The characters and backgrounds are all very detailed and different in this story, which also shows creativity. When seeing the illustrations as a child, they were always exciting to me because of that. And lastly, I like how it is kind of hard to predict what is going to happen. This gives students the chance to practice predicting what is coming next in a story.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Literary Element Analysis:** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Character development is a literary element in this story. The main character is a dynamic character. Max starts out to be out of control and terrible in his own home where his mother is the authority figure. He then goes to this imaginative land where he can be his out of control self and be his own authority figure. But Max soon realizes how he does not want to be this person anymore and wants to go home. He then goes home and eats the supper that was taken away from him in the beginning of the story. Max is a dynamic character because he undergoes an important change in personality in the story. He went from being a mischievous boy to a boy who realized he wanted to not do that anymore and go home where he was loved. This literary element contributes to the quality of the book because it helps show children who the character is. When they know whom the character is then they have a feeling of realism throughout the story. When they know who the character is then they can have a sense of the changes that happen. Such as emotions and personality. The way the author portrays the element is exciting in the story; the way that Max was before he met the Wild Things and then afterwards. His mood and outlook changed towards the end. This is significant to the reader because it helps them understand characters and the changes that can occur in people. Children can understand this concept and realize that misbehaving does not benefit them, even when they make their own rules. This can also help with students’ ability to look deep into the meaning and learn right from wrong. They will realize that it is wrong to misbehave and that when they are acting respectful they will benefit more, for example, in the story, eating his supper.

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