Kids Stories

Where the Wild Things Are Review

Maurice Sendak’s Where The Wild Things Are has been a beloved addition to children’s literature for decades for many good reason. It is a story that speaks to the heart of every child, and with its original drawings and it’s wording simplistically brilliant, there are few books that are its equal.

where the wild things are book

What’s ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ About?

We meet Max, a little boy dressed in his wolf suit, up one night making mischief of one kind or another. His Mother calls him “WILD THING!” and he responds with all the vigor of a stubbornly naughty child “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” As a result, he is sent to bed without supper. As the night wears on, Max’s room turns into a jungle, with an ocean tumbling by and a boat made just for him bobbing about. He gets in it and sails, and sails, until he reaches a land with terrible monsters, a land where the wild things live. They try to frighten Max, but he tames them, and becomes their king. It seems like a wonderful thing…until something calls him home.

where the wild things are by maurice sendak

What Are The Illustrations Like?

The illustrations are wonderful in only the way they can be in such a classic book. They are lively and match the story in such a way that it all completely comes to life. The Wild Things, their land, Max’s room, everything, is all depicted in Sendak’s unique manner of drawing, a manner that both brings back memories, and creates them. In 1970, in recognition of the excellence of his entire body of work, Maurice Sendak was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Illustrator Award.

where the wild things are illustrations

What Can We Take Away From It?

Max throws a fit and then heads off on a flight of fancy to indulge in his wild side. At first all seems well, but as he masters the Wild Things (representations of his unruliness and tumultuous emotions) and time goes on he begins to get hit with the reality of what he really wants. He is called back home by the promise of parental love, shown in the form of ‘a supper that is still hot.’

All children go on Max’s journey at some point in their own way. This story is a form of the earliest self of each human being. This book speaks to children in a language that they can or will understand. It hits on something that is very rarely put into words. It gives them an example of how to balance fear and comfort, how to manage anger and discipline, what is truly right, and how sometimes we have to take a trip to the ‘wild side’ to find out what is best in reality.

Even as adults we all remember that feeling of throwing a tantrum, the anger and frustration that welled up and spilled over, and the infuriating calm of your parents as they disciplined you in one way or another. And then the things you made up in your mind as only a child with an active imagination can to deal with your situation, places to escape to. For children to see this experience put into book form like Where The Wild Things Are is something really special-even if though don’t quite know why yet.

he Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is a tender story, alive with both sorrow and happiness. With its simple line drawings and almost lyrical writing it makes its reader stop and think about what it truly means to love someone.

the giving tree by shel silverstein

The Story

There is a tree, and she loves a little boy. Every day the boy will come and play, he will make a crown of her leaves and pretend to be king of the forest. He will swing in her branches, eat apples, and when he gets tired he will rest in her shade. But things change, and people grow up, and as time passes the little boy comes by less and less. Now when he visits the tree it is to complain, or ask for something. The tree gives all she can, her apples to sell when he demands money, her branches so he can build a house, everything she has until she can give no more. When she is nothing but a stump and the boy returns as an old man she is sorry, for she thinks she has nothing left for him. Sometimes though, the things to be desired most are not in a form that we can quantify, and as long as you care for someone you have the most important things left to give-love and the simple act of companionship.

the giving tree book

Interpretation of The Giving Tree

It never ceases to amaze me just how much animosity people have towards this story. Its meaning has been dissected to the point of over-interpretation and there is so much controversial opinions swirling around it. People feel its sexist-that the tree being a female and giving everything she has to the boy until she is nothing but a stump that he sits on represents gender inequality. Some feel that Shel Silverstein pushes a terrible message onto our children, urging them to take advantage of the ones that love them and act selfishly. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, and it is not for me to say who is right and who is wrong, I can only present my own feelings.

I do not think that this story is meant to teach children about just sharing. I think its meaning runs much deeper than that. I think it is meant to evoke certain emotion in its readers, which they can than think about and learn from. The way most children react at the end of The Giving Tree-they are upset, or saddened by the ending. They are not getting the message that they should go out and act like the boy does, instead they ask ‘why?’ The Giving Tree is powerful in that whether or not children are okay with the ending, it is such a thought provoking book for them.

the giving tree illustrations

Do We Recommend The Giving Tree?

I would recommend it, despite the controversy. I think it is a lovely tale, albeit a sad one, but lovely none the less. I do not think it will press a negative message onto children, I think that it will raise their awareness about what it means to love someone, and the hardships that sometimes come with it.