Caldecott Medal Winners
70 books |
89 voters
book data
29,359 ratings,
4.51
average rating, 1,443 reviews
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published
November 9th 1988
(first published 1963)
by HarperCollins
binding
Hardcover, 48 pages
characters
literary awards
Caldecott Medal 1964, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, ALA Notable Book,
isbn
0060254920
(isbn13: 9780060254926)
description
Where the Wild Things Are is one of those truly rare books that can be enjoyed equally by a child and a grown-up. If you disagree, then it's been too ...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 31,701)
All ratings
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5 stars (18841)
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4 stars (7094)
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3 stars (2599)
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2 stars (475)
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1 star (129)
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avg 4.51
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in January, 1979
recommends it for:
Delusional miscreants.
I have no doubt that this book damaged me, psychologically, as a small child. It is one of the earliest books I vividly remember reading aloud to myself, and I remember the first time my mother read it to me before she put me to bed. Here's the gist of the plot: A little boy named Max dresses up in a wolf costume, plays with a hammer, chases his dog with a fork, then threatens to cannibalize his mother. His mother, a master of irony, then puts him to bed with no dinner. Already, this story shoul...more
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12 comments
Of all the books I read my kids, and there are many, this is my favourite to perform.
It is so easy to turn Where the Wild Things Are into a a big, rollicking tickle fest, and I am never able to resist the urge. When those Wild Things show up with their "terrible roars" and "terrible eyes" and "terrible claws," I attack my kids with everything I've got until they are reduced to quivering masses of giggled out jelly.
And Max, the King of the Wil...more
It is so easy to turn Where the Wild Things Are into a a big, rollicking tickle fest, and I am never able to resist the urge. When those Wild Things show up with their "terrible roars" and "terrible eyes" and "terrible claws," I attack my kids with everything I've got until they are reduced to quivering masses of giggled out jelly.
And Max, the King of the Wil...more
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(7 people liked it)
5 comments
This book is crap, and let me tell you why. The kid is a jerk and is sent to his room without supper. He proceeds to go to some magical place where these monsters live and he bosses them around and is mean to them. Then he gets back home...having not learned that being a mean jerk is wrong...and there on his table in his room is dinner...and it's still warm. What's the lesson here exactly?
Hate the book.
Hate the book.
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1 comment
Read in January, 1986
recommended to Meg by:
my mommy... who read it every nightrecommends it for: EVERYONE (yes, even you adults)
Another 5 star! Man, I'm getting generous. You guys just keep bringing up stories that KICK TRASH! This is the greatest children's book in the history of time as far as I'm concerned. And I'll tell you something WICKED AWESOME about it that I figured out when I researched it for a play adaptation I wrote. **GET OUT THE COPY OF YOUR CHILDREN'S BOOK RIGHT NOW**... Flip through the pages, and notice that on the first page the artwork is a small rectangle... then it grows larger and larger on...more
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(3 people liked it)
3 comments
The classic. I would take this on a desert island. So much to explore and interpret in the words and the pictures. I'm afraid my girls don't like the book as much as I do. But sooner or later, they'll come around.
I see quite a few people complaining about Max being a little shit and not learning a lesson in "Where the Wild Things Are." Well, guess what, a lot of kids are little shits. And I believe Max did learn a few things on his journey. Sometimes it's not so good to be ...more
I see quite a few people complaining about Max being a little shit and not learning a lesson in "Where the Wild Things Are." Well, guess what, a lot of kids are little shits. And I believe Max did learn a few things on his journey. Sometimes it's not so good to be ...more
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Read in February, 2008
"The pictures in this one scared me. Maybe when I'm older, say 6 months old, I'll like it then!!"
That was then, now that I'm older and more mature (I am 6.5 months old now!!) I was able to read this book, with mommy's help. While the picture's are still daunting, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. This one may very well become one of my favorites.
That was then, now that I'm older and more mature (I am 6.5 months old now!!) I was able to read this book, with mommy's help. While the picture's are still daunting, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. This one may very well become one of my favorites.
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This is where is all started. This tore down the walls in my imagination and let me run wild with the animals!!!
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Read in June, 1972
I lived in Richmond,Kentucky when I was a kid. It was a sweet, semi-rural upbringing where a six year old could walk up the street with his little poodle dog (that would be me and mine) and visit a kindly elderly couple that would only allow the dog on their couch when the dog had just been washed. Somehow the dog knew this and was always ready to take that walk up the street after it had been bathed. Weird, I know. It was also the kind of small town where people who read the New Yorker were...more
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"The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind..." These are probably the best 13 opening words ever written in the history of picture books.
Sendak is a master of brevity, telling poignant stories in less words than most of us use to talk about the weather. His approach to children's literature is honest and non condescending. He remembers what is was like to be a child, and through his storytelling reminds the rest of us how our perception of the world ...more
Sendak is a master of brevity, telling poignant stories in less words than most of us use to talk about the weather. His approach to children's literature is honest and non condescending. He remembers what is was like to be a child, and through his storytelling reminds the rest of us how our perception of the world ...more
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recommends it for:
anyone
Perhaps if George Bush had chosen this as his favorite book instead of 'The Hungry Caterpillar,' then maybe his tenure in office would have been slightly different (it would have also been better for him to have chosen a book that had NOT been published simultaneous with his college years, as was the case with 'Caterpillar'; at least with 'Where The Wild Things Are,' we could have all at least PRETENDED that his mother read it to him..... but I digress).
Well, anyway, what more is the...more
Well, anyway, what more is the...more
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Read in January, 1976
Is it wrong that this is still probably my favorite book?
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recommends it for:
everyone that's ever been a kid
i STILL have this book!
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Read in March, 2009
recommended to Erica by:
My motherrecommends it for: children
Maurice Sendak, in my opinion, struck oil when he created this children's story. Childhood memories can be shady or impossible to remember until you discover something that came directly from your childhood. Where the Wild Things Are has that magical power over me. Every time I hear of the book or see the familiar images I return to the age of six when I received my first (and only) copy of the book from my teacher as a Christmas present.
It was my favorite book as a child and one of...more
It was my favorite book as a child and one of...more
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I have this book memorized...
The night Max wore his wolf suit.. and made mischief of one kind.. and another.. his mother called him, "Wild thing!" and max said "I'll eat you up" so he was sent to bed without eating anything. That very night, in Max's room, a forest grew, and grew, and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around. And an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max. And he sailed off, through night and day, i...more
The night Max wore his wolf suit.. and made mischief of one kind.. and another.. his mother called him, "Wild thing!" and max said "I'll eat you up" so he was sent to bed without eating anything. That very night, in Max's room, a forest grew, and grew, and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around. And an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max. And he sailed off, through night and day, i...more
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Read in May, 2009
I have vague recollections of reading this story at a very young age. As it is with books and TV shows of our youth, nostalgia has convinced me that this book is a pinnacle of children’s literature. I make no claims as to whether or not that thought is accurate, but the recent release of the theatrical trailer for the movie adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s tale caught my eye. First of all, the movie looks absolutely gorgeous, and I’m excited to see it as soon as I can (I’m not sure if I...more
I don't know how this became a "classic" children's book, frankly. You have a horrible brat of a kid that gets to go on an adventure after being sent to his room. Even that part of the story doesn't have that much going on in it. There's some good prose in the middle, but I think it's overrated. Check out John Lithgow's Micawber for a great story and prose!
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Read in November, 1984
recommended to Cindy by:
Mrs. Carmella Scopel, my preschool teacherrecommends it for: People of all ages who love to explore
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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I consider this one of the most perfect books ever written. I love the economy of text. No extra words. Nothing to bore me or make me yawn. you get in, enjoy a fantastic yarn, and get out. It's weird and quirky, but not self-consciously so. It's a little wicked and gently amusing, even poignant at times, but not cloying. perfection.
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Read in April, 2009
The story of a rambunctious little boy whose wild imagination brings the reader into a world of strange and even wilder creatures. At the heart of the story, though, is the love shared between the boy and his mother, who despite punishing him for being naughty, does not let him go without a hot supper. As a child, I remember not being too fond of this book. I think I was never very interested in fantasy fiction, and the creatures of Sendak's creation were a little too strange, and perhaps a l...more
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