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Harold and the Purple Crayon
Crockett Johnson
Like Max, Harold makes his own adventure from nothing but imagination, drawing a whole world and finding his way back to bed, a gentle classic with the same journey-and-return shape.
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Find Similar BooksWhere the Wild Things Are
Children's Books
★★★☆☆3.0 (6)
A short picture book that takes a child's anger seriously, and its drawings do as much storytelling as the sparse text, which makes it worth a slow, repeated look at any age.
What It's About
Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 picture book by Maurice Sendak, and it won the Caldecott Medal the following year. It runs only a few dozen pages, with short sentences that are easy to read aloud, so a first reading takes minutes. Adults often return to it for much longer, though, because the book rewards attention to what is happening in the pictures.
The story follows a boy in a wolf suit whose mischief gets him sent to his room without supper. From there his imagination takes over, and the walls of his bedroom give way to a larger, wilder world. Sendak's pen-and-ink drawings, with their dense crosshatching, shift from cramped domestic rooms to full-page and spread-size scenes where the scale itself carries the emotion. The text is spare and rhythmic, so the reading experience feels closer to sitting with a picture-led story than working through a novel.
Read as an adult, the book is notable for how seriously it treats a child's anger, desire for control, and need to be loved after acting badly. It does not moralize or punish its hero. It is a strange, compact, emotionally honest book that works on several levels at once.
Read this if you…
- want a picture book that takes a child's anger seriously rather than scolding it away
- are reading aloud to a young child and want text with real rhythm and room for discussion
- care about how illustration builds mood and atmosphere
Skip it if you…
- want a plot-driven story with a clear moral or a tidy lesson at the end
- are looking for a longer chapter book or a text-heavy bedtime story
Key Ideas
- 1
Anger as something to explore safely
The book treats a child's rage and mischief as real feelings rather than behavior to be corrected. Max's wild behavior is not framed as a failure to be punished. Instead, the story gives anger a place to play out in imagination, which is why many readers find it validating rather than preachy. Parents and children often read it as a way to talk about big feelings without making the conversation a lecture.
- 2
Imagination as a place to test power
Once Max leaves his room in his mind, he finds himself in a position of unexpected authority over creatures far larger than him. The book explores what it feels like to be in charge, to be feared and admired, and how quickly that kind of power can lose its appeal. It is a small study of control, and the appeal of being in charge is shown alongside its limits.
- 3
Pictures that carry the emotional weight
Sendak's art does much of the work. The shifts in scale, the shading, and the way the page layout opens up or closes in tell you how Max feels before the words do. Looking closely at how the drawings build mood is one of the main reasons adults keep returning to the book. It is a useful example of how picture books can work as visual storytelling.
- 4
Home as a feeling, not a lesson
The book's emotional center is the pull between wanting freedom and wanting to be cared for. It does not end with a moral or a lecture. Instead, it suggests that home is something you come back to because it offers comfort, not because you were told to. This quiet, unforced ending is part of why the book has lasted, and it leaves room for each reader to draw their own meaning.
Limitations
Some parents find the wild creatures and Max's unruly behavior unsettling for very young or anxious children, so it may be better shared with an older toddler or preschooler. Readers who want a clear lesson will find the book deliberately open-ended. Its supporting characters are thin, and older readers may find it slight as a story, especially compared with later picture books that do more with text and structure. Its appeal leans heavily on the art, which can feel less rewarding in cheap or small reprints.
Questions Readers Ask
- Is Where the Wild Things Are still worth reading as an adult?
- Yes. Adults often find more in it than children do, especially in the drawings and in how the book handles anger, control, and the need for comfort. It takes only a few minutes to read, but many readers return to it, and it is widely studied as an example of picture book design. It is less rewarding if you want a plot with twists or a lot of text.
- Is it suitable for toddlers?
- Many families read it with toddlers and preschoolers, and it is a common bedtime choice. Some very young or anxious children may find the monsters and Max's rage intense, so it helps to read it together and pause to talk about the pictures. Because the text is short and rhythmic, it works well for reading aloud.
What Creators Say About Where the Wild Things Are
Reviews from readers on YouTube. Their opinions are their own.
- Published
- 1988
- ISBN
- 9780064431781
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Category
- Children's Books
Book details and cover from Google Books.
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