Maurice Sendak's picture book classic, Where the Wild Things Are, is one of the most beloved children's books of all time. It has spawned multiple re-prints, an animated short film, an opera and, most recently, a full-length feature film that opened to scattered critical acclaim. This influential book has been called a favorite by prominent public figures such as President Barack Obama, actress Meryl Streep and writer Neil Gaiman. Perhaps most impressively though, it has rewritten the landscape of children's literature.
Where the Wild Things Are is only 10 sentences long and concerns a little boy named Max who runs around his house "making mischief" while dressed in a wolf costume. When he is sent to his room without supper, his bedroom walls transform into a vast jungle where he meets the fearsome Wild Things. Max becomes "the King of all Wild Things" after he conquers them by "staring into all their yellow eyes without blinking once." When Max eventually becomes homesick, he takes leave of the Wild Things despite their pleadings ("Please don't go - we'll eat you up, we love you so!") and returns to his bedroom, where he finds supper "still hot."
Writer-illustrator Maurice Sendak explained that he "didn't have a social conscience that I was doing anything different ... Emancipating children was far from my mind." Despite these mild words, Sendak, now 81, has continuously been the center of controversy throughout his career. Sendak was in his mid-30s when he wrote and illustrated Where the Wild Things Are, which was published in 1963. The book initially troubled parents because of the grotesque depictions of the monsters and the pictures' often nightmarish quality. Yet criticism toward Wild Things was mild in comparison to the outrage sparked by the publication of In the Night Kitchen, which featured a naked boy, who is almost baked in a cake by a Hitler-esque cook. In the Night Kitchen appears regularly on the American Library Association's list of "Frequently Challenged and Banned Books."
Despite the challenges Sendak often faces, his book remains a beloved classic, with more than 19 million copies in print.
Why is Wild Things so immensely popular? Critics have analyzed it through the lens of Freud, with each monster representing a different facet of personality. Some interpret it as an artistic psychoanalysis of anger or an explanation for the deviant behavior of children. Others see it as an expression of post-colonial critique on the imposition of Western civilization. I however, agree wholeheartedly with Manohla Dargis, reviewing for The New York Times: "There are different ways to read the wild things ... and probably as many ways to ruin this delicate story of a solitary child liberated by his imagination."
This review ran alongside our review of the film version of Where The Wild Things Are.
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