Book Review: Where the Wild Things Are
...f several themes from the story, including one of the “wild things”. The setting is on a tropical island where the “wild things” roam and where Max becomes their fearless leader and commands them to be “still” and later orders them to let “the wild rumpus start”. The details in the illustrations of the yellow eyes, the horns and human feet of the “wild things” all grabbed the attention of my five-year son while I read it to him. I too, enjoyed the details of the pictures and found myself studying them and flipping back through the pages even after I finished reading the story. The illustrations seem to coincide nicely within the text, and several pages of illustrations are even without text, which works well for the story, for the pictures speak louder than words! This allows for readers to call upon their imagination to implement their own words and ideas. The descriptive language used within the text lends to much discussion and interaction between the reader and his or her listener. While reading this story with my son, he immediately began responding to the words and pictures with snarls and growls and scratching motions with his hands reenacting the “wild things”. He was able to identify with the main character, Max and was able to pick up on the reason Max was sent to his room. This led to dialogue between us about acceptable behavior at home and towards adults and what happens in our house when someone misbehaves. The use of repetition of many of the words also made it...