Where the Wild Things Are Review: Let the Wild Rumpus Start
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Let the Wild Rumpus Start
Where the Wild Things Are, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, is the very first book my husband ever bought for our children.
I remember going to the bookstore with my husband after our first doctor’s appointment when I was pregnant with our eldest, Audrey.
We looked around the bookstore, not looking for anything in particular. I was shopping around for myself; I didn’t realize Jonathan was shopping for our baby.
When Jonathan put the book down on the counter to purchase, I remember thinking, “What a wonderful book it would be if we were having a little boy; perhaps I should pick out a special book for if it’s a girl?”
It was a girl, and so was the one after her, and the one after her, and even the one after her.
I might not have gotten my own young Max yet, but what I do have, are four of my very own little wild things.
So, let the wild rumpus start.
Let the Children be Children. Let the Wild Things be Wild!
We live in a culture where children of younger and younger ages sit down in front of screens and electronic devices for massive amounts of time.
I don’t want to come off too strong here so please don’t get me wrong, we are not a screen free household by any means. But there have got to be limits. And I’m not always good at mediating that. Know your weaknesses.
A few years back, I bought the cheapest tablet for my girls to use while flying across the county to visit family. I told the girls that the tablet was strictly for travel use—only flights and very long road trips!
But a few weeks later, while the baby was having a meltdown, the girls begged, and I broke, and they watched a show so Mommy could enjoy a cup of coffee in peace. After that, the tablet became a staple item in our home. I had no idea how to regulate it. Thank goodness it wasn’t built to last, and it broke shortly after. I’m pretty happy not getting another for, hopefully, many years to come. If a situation while driving across the country calls for it, they can use my phone to watch a movie.
What I’m trying to say is that I’m not opposed to children watching appropriate movies that have stood the test of time or even playing a learning game on my phone, but it’s not supposed to be their lifestyle!
Let the children enjoy their childhood! Let the wild things run free in the land of the wild things!
Reading as Max & as His Mother
Where the Wild Things Are is by far one of the best-loved children’s books in our home. It is the story of a little boy, Max, who (even if you’ve never read the book, I’m sure you would recognize him by his signature wolf suit) is sent to his room before supper for being much too wild and for telling his mother that he would eat her up.
My heart was so torn recently reading the story to my girls. Was Max’s mom right to send Max to his room? For what, for being a wild young boy? Was he hurting anyone? Was he really that out of control? Maybe he was just hungry; maybe he wanted someone to play with. Based on the illustrations, you may draw your own conclusions; in one image, he is building himself a little fort. 10/10 for creativity and imagination, Max. In another picture, he is shown chasing the family dog with a fork. I’m not going to applaud that kind of behavior; sure, I’ll give you that. Perhaps he had it coming.
But seeing Max’s bedroom and the small child illustrated there, full of imagination and vinegar, my heart went out to him.
A Wild Adventure to the Land of the Wild Things
And so, all alone in his room, the boy goes on a wild adventure. Max sails away on a private boat that takes over a year’s voyage and brings him to the land of wild things.
Perhaps this is where he belongs? A place where he doesn’t need to watch his P’s and Q’s: where a little child can be themselves.
The wild animals crowned Max their king for being the wildest thing of all, and perhaps for the first time in a long time, Max isn’t told that he is a naughty boy for causing a rumpus.
But after some time, Max wants the one thing that the island cannot offer. A mother’s love.
So much to the demise of the wild things, Max leaves them. Why did that make me so emotional, seeing these huge monsters all cry after him as he sailed away “Oh please don’t go- we’ll eat you up -we love you so!”
And Max made the year-long voyage back home to his room to find his supper waiting for him. “And it was still hot.”
Wild Adventure, Unconditional Love, and a Hot Dinner.
I have been Max, and I have been his mother, and I have even been the wild things. Perhaps that is why Max’s emotions and Max’s adventures hit so close to home for me. And the same for his mother and for the wild things. I see myself, as well as my children in them all. I see my husband in them, and my siblings and my young nieces and nephews. We are all a part of Max and the wild things.
The book, which contains few words, covers many themes and messages with its brilliant text and expressive accompanying illustrations. This simple yet deep story stirs the children’s emotions and the imagination of generations. It conveys the message of unconditional love and the concept of universal love.
Max’s mother brings him dinner even though he is naughty because she loves him too much to let him go to bed hungry.
Max sails back from the realm of the wild things and leaves his new friends because the good things in life rarely come from getting everything we thought we wanted.
Maurice Sendak’s original text, a Caldecott medal winner and timeless classic, truly is for readers of all ages. It will take a nostalgic hold upon you forever, as a parent, as a child, and as a wild thing.
If your family had not yet added Where the Wilds Things Are to your collection, be sure to do so!
Other classic works written and/or illustrated by the delightful imagination of Maurice Sendak:
Read more at Paraclete Pedagogy.
AMDG
Emma Williams
