Imagination in Where The Wild Things

Imagination in Where The Wild Things

Where The Wild Things Are, written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, won the Caldecott Medal as the most distinguished American picture book in 1964. It is now considered a classic of American children’s literature. This book has been a favorite in my family now for going on three generations, with my two-year-old son asking me to read it to him almost every night. While the short text of the story is good, the book is more famous for its beautiful artwork. These images do more than just illustrate the story; in this article, I look at some small details from the artwork and explore how they contribute to what the book has to say about the transforming power of imagination. The book begins with a boy named Max dressed in a wolf suit misbehaving, terrorizing the dog and talking back to his mother. He is sent to bed without any supper. But a strange thing happens: his room magically transforms into a forest with a nearby ocean. He boards a boat and sails across the ocean for nearly a year before he comes to an island inhabited by terrible monsters known in the book as “wild things.” Max manages to tame them, and they crown him king of all the wild things. After an indefinite amount of time, he grows lonely and wishes to return home. He gives up being king, boards his boat, sails back across the ocean, and returns to his room. He finds there his supper waiting for him.