Where the Wild Things Are

This is some crazy picture book. I remember reading it when I was younger, but I guess now I kind of have a different perspective on the book. I find the main character Max to be really amusing. Again, he seems like the typical little boy who is wild and likes to get into trouble just like we saw with Peter Rabbit. From the very start of the book he is dressed in a monster costume. It's comical how he truly believes he is a scary monster throughout basically the entire book, especially when he's around the wild things. The fact that he believes he is the King of the wild things is even more amusing because he is so much smaller than them, and is obviously not a real monster. But, with some thought, it's clear that this is what many young boys do as children: They imagine themselves in some other world as some type of king, monster, bad guy, etc. who conquers the world.

The illustrations add so much to the story, and it obviously wouldn't be the same without them. The fact that the little boy Max is dressed as a monster in most of the story, makes it seem more real, even though its obvious its not. However, when children read this book or have this book read to them, I'm sure they can see Max as more of a monster than we as young adults can. The illustrations seem to start off somewhat simple, but as Max travels to the place where the wild things are, the illustrations start to become busier and more complex. This kind of gets the reader, especially a child, more into the story and almost "trapped" in this wild world the author and illustrator have created. One last thing before I just go on and on; In the beginning and throughout most of the book, Max is seen in his monster costume and all we can see is his face, but then at the end when he returns to his room, (after wanting to be where someone loved him best of all) we see his head and hair as well. It seems as though he is starting to take his costume off a little, or it is falling off. Some can maybe interpret this to mean that Max is growing up and losing that sense of childhood and imagination.