London Loveiosa would like to wish Maurice Sendak the happiest of birthdays! Born in 1928, 2014 would have seen Sendak at 85 years! Best known for his children's picture book, Where The Wild Things Are, Sendak is one of the worlds best loved children's authors. In celebration of his wonderful stories London Loveiosa have written reviews of a selection of his books as part of ReviewsdayTuesday.
Alligators All Around
Where the Wild Things Are is a beautiful story I loved as a child and still love as an adult but I didn't really know much of his Maurice Sendak's work. Therefore, In honour of Maurice's upcoming birthday, I decided to discover some of his other works.
Alligators All Around caught my attention as soon as a saw the frolicking alligators on the cover page & it didn't disappoint!This book is a lovely jaunt through the alphabet. It takes the reader on a journey from A to Z, travelling with a very funny family of alligators.I particularly love the letters L & M which have the alligators 'Looking Like Lions' and 'Making Macaroni'!
I think this is a great book to introduce kids to the alphabet with wonderfully joyful illustrations that'll ensure kids will want to read and re read this book while learning their ABCs
- Natasza Lentner
Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue
Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue is one of my favourite Maurice Sendak books because not only does it include a strong moral and Sendak’s wry wit but it also features a lion. What more could you want? The story is about Pierre, a young boy who disobeys his parents and always replies with “I don’t care”. This response often hurts the feelings of his parents and when they leave him home alone one day, a lion comes to call. Pierre is *spoiler* eaten by the lion after saying he didn’t care if he died, but as this is a children’s book Pierre is soon rescued from the lion’s stomach, alive and well. Pierre is so happy to be alive that he finally learns to care. Through rhyming and repetition Pierre: A Cautionary Tale shows the consequence’s of not caring. I think a lot of children and even teenagers go through an “I don’t care” phase and as a result this cautionary tale is relevant for both young and old. “The moral of Pierre is: CARE!”
- Rebecca Milburn
Where The Wild Things Are
I thought I had never read "Where The Wild Things Are" before, but as I opened the pages I was transported back to a time where I had been read this lovingly illustrated book at school story time. This is a trip into the imagination of a child and the wild and crazy things that they think up. As an adult it reminded me to practice this very skill, so I can disappear into a magical world when I am feeling down. The story has a message that reminds children that when they feel like their parents don't love them because they have misbehaved, they are indeed loved, despite the child's flaws. I plan to read this to my niece as soon as she is old enough!
- Elizabeth Hamlet
The Sign On Rosie's Door
The Sign On Rosie's door is the only chapter book by Maurice Sendak that I have read, and it's remained a firm favourite since childhood. The story in essence similar to Where The Wild Things Are, it is the story of how a child's imagination is enough to fuel a whole world. Rosie is bored and so she puts up a sign on her door that says "If you want to know a secret, then knock three times" when her friend see's this sign she ofcourse knocks, the secret is that Rosie is in fact not Rosie at all, but actually "Allinda, the lovely lady singer" the story continues in this way, with Rosie and her friends being referred to with different names and seeking out ways to cure their boredom. It's a wonderful story and a great book to read alongside a child. Re-reading this helped me to remember the freedom in a child's imagination that an adult never chooses to lose, but somehow always will.
- Jessica Barker
Where The Wild Things Are
Where The Wild Things Are
I read "Where the Wild Things Are" for the first time yesterday, so that I could wrote this review on Maurice Sendak's birthday.
I did not grew up with Mr Sendak's stories, even though "Where the Wild Things Are" is quite famous in France. (The title was translated "Max and the Maximonsters". It's the cutest thing.)
I really enjoyed the story because my own bedroom used to be Neverland, a West End stage or Hogwarts, depending on my age slash mood slash reading influences.
Writing children's stories sounds easy but it really isn't, and in "Where The Wild Things Are" Maurice Sendak really described perfectly this wonderful power of imagination that mainly children possess.
Also, wild adventures are great but mum's cooking is better.
Favourite quote :
“Oh please don’t go-
we’ll eat you up-we love you so!”
- Laura Sasia
I never read this book as a child like so many others, it’s always been on my to do list so Maurice Sendak’s birthday seems the perfect time. The illustrations really bring this book to life and are one of my favourite aspects. It seems to be the images in this book that a lot of people remember most vividly and now I know why! The story’s written about a young ‘wild’ boy named max with a vast and vibrant imagination who is sent to his room without supper after being mischievous. Shortly after his room transforms into a forest in which he meets the real ‘wild things”. The book may be short but there’s so much contained within it’s pages, I would recommend this to any age, everyone!
- Lily Sears
Where The Wild Things Are
Growing up, I had very limited access to books because of my family's economic situation. What I did have access too was almost always about real situations and real people, whereas I got immersed in movies and television shows that featured, from my perspective, more imagination. I see books, even simple ones, that allow fantastical things to happen to the characters as something really important for children to have, just as important as stories about the world we live in. What they call "innovation" in adults is really just the same "imagination" that children should be encouraged to have. I think "Where the Wild Things Are" is one of those things that encourages it and I hope it continues to spark imagination well into the future-
- Lola Olson
Where The Wild Things Are
It's clear to see why Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is considered a classic children's story. The book tells the tale of Max's adventure far across the sea where the wild things live. The book is beautifully illustrated by Sendak, and the wild things in particular are brought to life as incredible fantasy creatures surrounded by wild backgrounds. This one is definitely a childhood favourite for good reason!
- Hannah Roberts
The Trilogy
Many people are unaware that Where The Wild Things Are is actually part of a trilogy, the other two stories being In The Night Kitchen and Outside Over There.
Where The Wild Things Are
Where The Wild Things Are is the most famous of the three, and in fact of Sendak's career. As a child it was my favourite, it was the one that I would call for again and again and again, until my mother needn't look at the pages to know the words. Years later, I sympathise with her. It's still in the top 5 "again, again!" stories in nurseries across the UK. I must have read it to hundreds of children, thousands of times. I know the book by heart, word for word, page for page, picture for picture, and yet I've never tired of it. The story, as you'll have read in the reviews above, is about a young boy called Max. The night that max wore his wolf suit (this was my handle on my first fanfic and tumblr accounts. Aww) his mother calls him wild thing, and sends him to bed without any supper. Max is angry, and as his anger grows so does his imagination until he finds himself in a new world, where fantastic, wild and terrible things happen.
Maurice Sendaks illustrations are classics in their own right, on each page as Max's imagination grows, the illustration becomes larger and larger, until Max calms down and retreats from his imagination. At this point the illustrations grow smaller on the page, until there are only words. In my eyes this is what makes Sendak a genius. He is king of all the genius things.
In The Night Kitchen
In The Night Kitchen is also part of this trilogy, it tells the story of Mickey, who is awoken in the night by strange noises in his kitchen. Just like Max, Mickey disappears into the surreal and wonderful world of imagination, instead of Wild Things, Mickey meets bakers and nearly becomes cake himself! In The Night Kitchen is much more controversial than Where The Wild Things Are, but it holds true to Maurice's statement of imagination and is well loved by children when they're allowed to get their paws on it!
Outside Over There
Outside Over There
Outside Over There is the final in the trilogy, and is not so recognisable as Sendak's as the previous two. The illustrations are less child friendly, and the story makes less sense. Essentially it is about a young girl who's baby sister is stolen by Goblins and the journey she goes on to find her. This book appealed to me less as a child, however re-reading it as an adult brought a smile to my face as it shows the ups and downs of love between siblings and family.
- Jessica Barker
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