What is where the wild things are about
10 wild facts about Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are | Children's books
President Obama chose to read one of his favourite children’s books, Where The Wild Things Are, for the 2016 Easter Egg Roll at the White House. His very dramatic reading, accompanied by First Lady Michelle, featured claws and roars from the excited crowd! As one of our favourite children’s books too, here are some fun facts that you may or may not know about Maurice Sendak’s classic.
1. The book is about the author’s childhood
Where The Wild Things Are is inspired by Maurice’s youth, his background growing up in Brooklyn and his relationship with his parents. He intended to write about his own experiences and the people he knew, and the books became a form of self-expression for him.
President Obama and First Lady Michelle read Where The Wild Things Are Photograph: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images2. Maurice actually began his career as an illustrator
Maurice’s first published work were illustrations for a textbook titled Atomics for the Millions in 1947. He continued to illustrate other people’s children’s books, before he was given the chance to write and draw his own.
3. Where The Wild Things Are was not the original title
The initial working title of the book was ‘Where The Wild Horses Are’, and the story was supposed to be about a child who escapes to the land of the wild horses. Although his editor loved the idea, Maurice realised he was unable to draw horses, and the idea of the ‘Wild Things’ was born.
4. ‘Wild thing’ refers to a Yiddish term
When Maurice was a child, his mother often used to call him a “vilde chaya”, meaning ‘wild animal’ in Yiddish. In the book, when Max’s mother call’s him a “wild thing!” he retorts with “I’ll eat you up!”, which is why he is sent to bed with no supper.
An image from the 2009 film adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are. Photograph: Warner Bros.5. The ‘Things’ in the book were based on Maurice’s relatives
Maurice began to draw his ‘Things’, which he wanted to be personal creations rather than stereotypical and traditional monsters.
He soon realised his inventions were similar to his Jewish relatives from his childhood, who came for Sunday lunch each week and often told him he “looked so good we could eat you up”. He focused on their appearance as entertainment when he was younger, and this is what inspired the ‘Wild Things’.
6. Like Max, Maurice often went to bed without his supper
After dressing in his wolf costume and causing chaos in his house, Max is sent to bed with no supper as a punishment. Maurice revealed that he too sometimes went to bed without any supper, but for a very different reason – he hated his mother’s cooking!
7. The book was initially received badly
Upon its release, many psychologists thought that the book would be very traumatising for young children. A prominent psychiatrist said the book would cause fear of desertion, and that Max throwing a tantrum is unacceptable behaviour which appeared to be glorified in the story. Since then, the psychiatrist revealed they had never even read the book, and it has gone on to receive many awards, including the Caldecott medal.
8. Maurice didn’t want to write a sequel
Despite the popularity of the book, which was his most successful, before his death Maurice revealed he didn’t want to create a series from the story, and there was no convincing him to even consider it.
9. Where The Wild Things Are has been adapted many times
In the 1980s, Maurice worked with the British composer Oliver Knussen on a children’s opera based on the book, which was most notably performed at the Proms in the Royal Albert Hall in London in 2002. In 1983, Walt Disney conducted a series of computer-generated imagery tests, using Where The Wild Things Are as their subject. In 2009, a live-action film version of the book was released, directed by Spike Jonze and with Maurice as one of the producers.
10. The children’s book has received many awards
Obama is not the only president who is a big fan of the book – in 1997, American writer Maurice received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton!
Where the Wild Things Are - Teaching Children Philosophy
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Summary
This wonderfully imaginative book provides an excellent opportunity to discuss two basic themes with children: punishment and dreams.
Max gets sent to his room without dinner for disrespecting his mother. He then takes a trip to the magical land of the wild things. As their king, he rules the land until he gets homesick and heads for home, where he finds his dinner waiting for him, still warm.
Read aloud video by Ms. CeCe
Guidelines for Philosophical Discussion
Where the Wild Things Are is a brilliant exploration of the contents of a child’s imagination. Angry and hurt by his mother’s punishment, Max, who may have cried himself to sleep, finds himself dreaming a fantastic dream in which he goes to a place where he can be king.
This wonderfully imaginative book provides an excellent opportunity to discuss two basic themes with children: punishment and dreams. Both of these topics are important issues in philosophy.
Max has definitely misbehaved, so his mother punishes him by sending him to bed without eating. Students can be prompted to consider whether Max’s punishment is appropriate.
Does Max’s punishment “fit” his crime? Should punishments always fit the crimes they punish and how can this be done? After all, our society generally punishes criminals by putting them in jail or fining them. Do those punishments fit all the various crimes for which there are punishments?
A broader question is why should violations of rules and misbehavior be punished at all? There are various different philosophical theories addressing this issue. Some emphasize reforming the “criminal” while others focus on deterring crimes. Asking the children why Max’s mother punishes him provides them with an opportunity to think about why punishments are used both in families and society more generally.
Max’s dream about the land of the wild things raises interesting questions about the nature of the imagination and its operation. First, it is important to see what the children think about where the wild things are. If they agree that it is in a world created by Max’s imagination, they will have a chance to think about what the difference is between real things and things that are only dreamed about or imagined.
Philosophers in the empiricist tradition often claim that we can only imagine things using the materials that we have previously perceived. Since many features of the wild things’ world resemble Max’s actual world, this book provides an opportunity to think about whether this empiricist claim is true.
Questions for Philosophical Discussion
Max was sent to bed by his mother without eating anything.
- How do you think Max feels when his mother sends him to his room?
- Do you think that Max’s punishment is fair? Why or why not?
- Is there a different punishment that would have been better?
- Should parents punish their children? Why or why not?
That very night in Max’s room a forest grew.
- Do you think a forest really grew in Max’s room?
- If not, what do you think really happened?
- So is the forest real or not? If not, what type of forest is it? If so, how can a forest grow in a bedroom of a house?
Max sailed through night and day and in and out of weeks and almost over a year to where the wild things are.
- Where are the wild things?
- Do you think the wild things are real?
- Did Max dream them? Imagine them?
- What’s the difference between real things and objects that you dream about or imagine?
- Can you tell that you are not dreaming now?
“Max wanted to be where someone loved him best of all?”
- Have you ever felt loved best of all by someone?
- Have you ever felt that no one loved you best of all?
- How important is it to feel loved best of all?
Original questions and guidelines for philosophical discussion by Thomas Wartenberg. Edited May 2020 by The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics.
Find tips for leading a philosophical discussion on our Resources page.
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About the Prindle Institute
As one of the largest collegiate ethics institutes in the country, the Prindle Institute for Ethics’ uniquely robust national outreach mission serves DePauw students, faculty and staff; academics and scholars throughout the United States and in the international community; life-long learners; and the Greencastle community in a variety of ways.
In 2019, the Prindle Institute partrnered with Thomas Wartenberg and became the digital home of his Teaching Children Philosophy discussion guides.
Further Resources
Some of the books on this site may contain characterizations or illustrations that are culturally insensitive or inaccurate. We encourage educators to visit the Association for Library Service to Children’s resource guide for talking to children about issues of race and culture in literature. They also have a guide for navigating tough conversations. PBS Kids’ set of resources for talking to young children about race and racism might also be useful for educators.
Philosophy often deals with big questions like the existence of a higher power or death. Find tips for leading a philosophical discussion on our resources page.
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arabe allemand anglais espagnol francais hebreu Italian japonais neerlandais polonais portugais roumain Russian suedois turc Ukrainian chinois
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Ces exemples peuvent contenir des mots vulgaires lies à votre recherche
Ces exemples peuvent contenir des mots familiers liees à votre recherche
wild
Sauvages sauvage
things
choses affaires chose bags Vetements
You know, it's completely crazy, and.
.. with all the wild stuff we've done so far, that's saying something.
Allez, c'est presque aussi fou que ça le devient, et considérant toutes les folies qu'on a déjà faites, c'est peur dire.
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In daylight you can see wild things .
Tu peux voir des choses tres bizarres avec cette lumière.
That night I did the wildest thing of my life.
Cette nuit-là, j'ai fait la chose la plus particulière de ma vie.
Probably some really wild things .
Ça devait être des trucs vraiment fous .
This is the wildest thing in the history of mankind.
Je pense que c'est la chose la plus étrange qui soit jamais arrivée, jamais.
I heard some wild things about Patrick after we broke up.
Je suis soulagée, j'ai entendu des trucs bizarres après notre rupture.
You know what ugly, wild things we hide in ourselves that none of us would dare to put out.
Vous connaissez toutes les horribles choses que nous gardons enfouies que personne n'ose montrer.
None of us have been there, but if the movies are to be believed, wild things can happen there .
Et puisque nous n'y avons jamais été, d'après les films sur les universités, les choses peuvent devenir un peu folle.
You were told that you sometimes say wild things ?
Est-ce que quelqu'un vous a déjà dit que vous dites des choses assez bizarres ?
When was the last time you surprised me, threw out something wild ? I do wild things .
C'était quand la dernière fois que tu m'as surpris, que tu as fait quelque chose de fou ?
Isn't it crazy that a person can get used to such wild things so quickly ?
C'est fou comme on s'habitue à des situations surrealistes ! Je ne te le fais pas dire.
Well, it's probably the wildest thing you've ever had to deal with.
ainsi, ce doit être la étrange chose que vous les gars jamais traité.
But what she doesn't tell you is that she spends twice the entire McKinley High budget on the arts, on wild things like spats for her cheerleading squad.
Par contre, ce qu'elle ne vous dit pas, c'est comment elle dépense le double du budget d'Arts du lycée McKinley, pour des choses comme des chauffe-jambes pour ses Cheerios.
I'll say, "Nate, listen, I'm dating your mother...sleeping with her, doing wild things with her."
Je vais dire "Nate, écoute je sors avec ta mère, je couche avec elle, je lui fais pleins de trucs bizarres ."
I get the feeling that your notion of being alert and mine is two wildly miscellaneous things .
D'une certaine manière, j'ai un sentiment Votre idée d'être préparé et mon idée d'être préparé sont deux choses très différentes .
wildly hear from you things that turn me on.
Ça m'excite de t'entendre dire ça .
With wild things such things happen .
Des choses sauvages arrivent aux choses sauvages.
It is hard to imagine a more grandiloquent and tougher discussion than this one, which has stretched over several meetings of the Security Council. Therefore, it is necessary to clean it from some rubbish, from some of the most wild and unnecessary things .
Il importe pour autant qu'elle fût assainie de quelques-unes de ses scories, de certains de ces lambeaux délirants.
I'm saving Dick's fortune for the more important things , like "Doritos Dynamite."
Je garde la fortune de Deke pour des choses plus importantes comme des Doritos Dinamita.
These wild bulls were descended from cattle introduced in the previous century.
Ces bovins sauvages étaient issus du cheptel introduit au siècle précédent.
