Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The Obamas love it. It’s number one on BBC Culture’s poll of the greatest children’s books, ahead of Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter. It won the Caldecott Medal in 1964.
Where the Wild Things Are is iconic. It is also multi-layered, an exploration of childhood anxiety, capturing, in the author’s own words, “the awful vulnerability of children and their struggle to make themselves king of all wild things”.
When Max, the protagonist, is sent to his room without any supper, following various mischief-making, he enters into a fantasy world (or is he dreaming?), setting sail to a faraway land with otherworldly creatures who pronounce him king and who he sends to bed without their supper.
When he returns, or awakens, he finds himself safe in his room, with his supper waiting.
Worthy of all the fuss.
Recommended age: 3-6
