Where The Wild Things Are

posted October 24, 2009 - 4:24pm

Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are $10.47 from L Wagen's Bookstore In Association with Amazon

It's rare that a children's book has been around so long that a middle aged woman like myself can give you a child's perspective of this book, but I had this book read to me at age 7, and soon was reading it myself.

As a young girl, well I really wasn't that impressed. Well I guess it's more of a boy's book! It is sure about a naughtly behaved young boy Max who was sent to bed without his supper. Magically, a forest grows in his room, and he is crowned king of the jungle. Just like a boy secretively wanting to be king of the world, just ask my 2 brothers.

As an adult I am more impressed with the illustrations, and the awards that it has garnished in the past 40 years since it's debut, and with it's staying power. I don't think it's ever been out of print, and this week a movie based on the book has also made its debut.

The awards include

Winner, 1964 Caldecott Medal
Notable Children's Books of 1940–1970 (ALA)
1981 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Illustration
1963, 1982 Fanfare Honor List (The Horn Book)
Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1963, 1982 (NYT)
A Reading Rainbow Selection
1964 Lewis Carroll Shelf Award
Children's Books of 1981 (Library of Congress)
1981 Children's Books (NY Public Library)
100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1988 (NY Public Library)

All very impressive awards and as a author myself i know these awards are not the easiest to obtain.

The Caldecott Medal was named in honor of nineteenth-century English illustrator Randolph Caldecott. It is the American Library Association's highest honor given to the artist of the most distinguised American picture book for children for that year. The book is allowed to carry the medallion on its cover.

Caldecott Book Award Cover Medallion