Where the Wild Things Are Summary: Max, the Monsters and the Way Home
What it is about
Where the Wild Things Are is a children's picture book written and illustrated by the American author and illustrator Maurice Sendak. Harper & Row first published it in hardcover in 1963. The story is short and simple. Its reach has been enormous.
Max is a mischievous boy. He puts on his wolf suit and causes such havoc at home that he is sent to bed without his supper. Once he is alone, his bedroom begins to turn into a jungle. His imagination then carries him across the sea to an island where large, monstrous creatures live. These are the Wild Things.
The Wild Things try to frighten Max. It does not work. He stops them and intimidates them in turn, and they hail him as their king. What follows is a playful rumpus between Max and his new subjects.
That is the setup. The book covers a lot of emotional ground in very little space. A young child can follow every step of it. An adult reading aloud will notice what sits underneath.
The main characters
Max. A boy in a wolf suit who is wild enough to upset his whole household. He is also brave. When the monsters try to scare him, he does not run. He takes charge. The wolf suit matters here. He is dressed as a wild creature before he ever meets one.
The Wild Things. Large, monstrous creatures who live on the island. They look fearsome and act it at first. Once Max tames them they become eager playmates and loyal subjects. They have strong feelings too. When Max decides to leave, they are dismayed, and their sadness comes out as rage.
The themes
Adventure. Max's journey has a classic adventure shape. A child leaves home, crosses the sea, faces danger, wins and eventually comes back.
Dreams and imagination. The whole journey grows out of Max's bedroom. The room becomes a jungle and the sea carries him off. The book never stops to explain how. It simply lets the imagined world feel real while it lasts.
Family. Max is punished at the start, and the story quietly asks what happens to love after a child misbehaves. His time on the island lets him try the other role. As king, he sends the Wild Things to bed without their supper. It is the same punishment he received at home. For a moment he is the one in charge.
Identity. Max dresses as a wolf and then rules over beasts. Many readers see the Wild Things as a picture of his own anger and wildness. He can be fierce and still choose to go home. He can be a king and still want to be a boy.
How it ends (spoilers)
Stop here if you want to come to the ending fresh.
After the rumpus, Max stops the Wild Things and sends them to bed. Then he begins to feel lonely. He gives up his crown and decides to return home. The creatures do not want him to go. They throw themselves into fits of rage while he sails calmly away. Back in his bedroom, Max finds a hot supper waiting for him.
That supper is the quiet heart of the book. Max was sent to bed without food as a punishment. A meal has been left for him anyway. Nothing more is said about it. Children understand it at once. You can be angry and be punished and still be cared for.
Why it still matters
The book's standing was settled early. It won the Caldecott Medal in 1964, when librarians named it the previous year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". Nearly fifty years later, in a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, it was voted the number one picture book. That was not the first time it had taken the top spot.
It has also travelled well beyond the page. There was an animated short film in 1973, with an updated version in 1988. There was an opera in 1980. A live-action feature film followed in 2009. By that year the book had sold over 19 million copies worldwide, 10 million of them in the United States.
Part of its staying power lies in how honest it is about feelings. Max is angry and the book lets him be angry. It gives that anger somewhere to go, then brings him safely back. The story treats a child's temper as something to be understood rather than hidden.
It suits young children who are learning what to do with big emotions. It suits parents and teachers who want a book that opens up a conversation about anger, punishment and forgiveness. Because the text is brief and the pictures carry so much, it also rewards rereading. Many families come back to it again and again.
