Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are is a classic children's picture book about Max, a mischief-making child in a wolf suit. When he's made too much mischief in his house, his mother calls him a "Wild Thing" and sends him to his room without dinner. Upset and angry with his parents, Max watches as a forest begins to grow in his room. His imagination takes him by boat through an ocean and to the place where the wild things are. Although they are scary at first, Max shows bravery, tames the wild things, and crowns himself as thier king. They engage in a wild rumpus together until Max sends the monsters to bed. In the quiet, Max feels lonely (and a little hungry) and decides that it is time to sail home. He realizes that he wants to be in the place where someone loves him best of all. 

I have read this book countless times, but never through the perspective of it being "banned" or "controversial." With this lens, I found it hard to see anything that I would find upsetting to children or adults. The only thing that I could possibly imagine being a problem is Max's desire to "run away" from his home because of his mother. Parents may view this as a book that promotes this and may not want to expose their children to that kind of mindset. 

Upon discovering that the book was actually banned for how frightening it was, I was genuinely surprised! I don't think that it is scary at all, but this may have to do with the fact that it was published in 1993. I find it so interesting that people may have thought that the illustrations were too much for young readers. I think that the illustrations hold a lot of meaning and the expressions on the faces of the monsters tell a very different story. That's my opinion, anyway. 

I think that there is most definitely a place for this book—and Maurice Sendak's other books—in my classroom as he tells imaginative stories that really capture a reader.

Where the Wild Things Are
By: Maurice Sendak 
Published in 1993