Max in Where the Wild Things Are

If you’ve been on Google today, you’d know that today is the birthday of Maurice Sendak, beloved author of the children’s book, “Where the Wild Things Are.” Published in 1963 and winning the Caledecott medal in 1964, the book has since sold almost 20 million copies worldwide. It was later made into an animated short in 1974 and even an opera in 1980. Many of you probably read the book as a child and read it again as parents, and possibly again as grandparents. Besides entertaining multiple generations, “Where the Wild Things Are” and Maurice Sendak’s work carries heavy significance in the history of Children’s books and American Literature as a whole.

The book as initially banned from libraries when it was first published. This was during the Disney era of children’s books all carrying the morals of angelic fairy tales where the main characters were virtuous, the world was beautiful, and every story had a happy ending. Many parents disliked that the main character, Max, was a naughty boy with a lot of anger. Furthermore, parents felt that the drawings of the monsters known as “wild things” were too grotesque for kids. Oddly enough, Sendak modeled the drawings after caricatures he made of his aunts and uncles many years before. Despite the criticisms, the book’s popularity amongst children forced libraries and critics to relax their panning of the book.

“What makes Sendak’s book so compelling is its grounding effect: Max has a tantrum and in a flight of fancy visits his wild side, but he is pulled back by a belief in parental love to a supper ‘still hot,’ balancing the seesaw of fear and comfort.” –Mary Pols of TIME magazine

The draw of Sendak’s stories were in it’s reality. Sendak made his stories scary because according to him, he didn’t “believe in childhood.”

“I don’t believe in childhood. I don’t believe there’s a demarcation of ‘you mustn’t tell them this, you mustn’t tell them that.’ You tell them anything you want.” –Maurice Sendak

So instead he “told it like it is.” It was some of the most refreshing work of children’s literature, perhaps second only to Dr. Seuss. Maurice Sendak died last year in May, but his work will live forever in how we view childhood. Don’t shelter your kids in sugar and spice. Let them see where the wild things are.