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December 2009
After 40 years of popularity, as well as winning the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1964, Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is truly a children’s classic. Before seeing the movie, it’s a book everyone should read.
Max is a boy who loves getting up to mischief. After Max has been jumping down stairs, talking back to his mother and chasing the dog, Max’s mother finally sends her son to his room without supper.
No sooner is Max alone in his room than strange things begin to happen. A forest grows in his room, the walls disappear and Max finds himself sailing across an ocean by private boat. The place he lands is an island populated by Wild Things – huge and terrible creatures with terrible claws and rolling eyes. But Max is not afraid, taming the Wild Things, who quickly hail Max as their king. Max leads them in a wild rumpus of mischief and mayhem, until he begins to miss his mother and he decides home isn’t so bad after all.
Maurice Sendak is both the author and illustrator of the book. There are big pictures, sometimes taking up the whole page. Some younger readers may find the Wild Things frightening, but very few readers fail to enjoy Max’s wild adventure of imagination. This book would probably suit readers from Kindergarten to grade 3.
A movie of Where the Wild Things Are will be coming to theatres in December, with Spike Jonze directing and featuring Max Records, Catherine O’Hara, James Gandolfini and Forest Whitaker. The book is so massively popular that it would be a very big task to take on an adaptation. But the film is already getting plenty of recognition for its combination of puppetry, voice performances and animation, and it looks to be one of the biggest movies of the year. While the film looks a little creepy (it’s rated PG, so it may have some scenes that younger viewers may find scary), it’s definitely set to be a treat.
Before seeing the movie, remember to read the original classic!
Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
Red Fox Books, 1963
Ages 4-8
After 40 years of popularity, as well as winning the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1964, Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are is truly a children’s classic. Before seeing the movie, it’s a book everyone should read.
Max is a boy who loves getting up to mischief. After Max has been jumping down stairs, talking back to his mother and chasing the dog, Max’s mother finally sends her son to his room without supper.
No sooner is Max alone in his room than strange things begin to happen. A forest grows in his room, the walls disappear and Max finds himself sailing across an ocean by private boat. The place he lands is an island populated by Wild Things – huge and terrible creatures with terrible claws and rolling eyes. But Max is not afraid, taming the Wild Things, who quickly hail Max as their king. Max leads them in a wild rumpus of mischief and mayhem, until he begins to miss his mother and he decides home isn’t so bad after all.
Maurice Sendak is both the author and illustrator of the book. There are big pictures, sometimes taking up the whole page. Some younger readers may find the Wild Things frightening, but very few readers fail to enjoy Max’s wild adventure of imagination. This book would probably suit readers from Kindergarten to grade 3.
A movie of Where the Wild Things Are will be coming to theatres in December, with Spike Jonze directing and featuring Max Records, Catherine O’Hara, James Gandolfini and Forest Whitaker. The book is so massively popular that it would be a very big task to take on an adaptation. But the film is already getting plenty of recognition for its combination of puppetry, voice performances and animation, and it looks to be one of the biggest movies of the year. While the film looks a little creepy (it’s rated PG, so it may have some scenes that younger viewers may find scary), it’s definitely set to be a treat.
Before seeing the movie, remember to read the original classic!
Where the Wild Things Are
by Maurice Sendak
Red Fox Books, 1963
Ages 4-8
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