Where the Wild Things Are, Written and Illustrated by Maurice Sendak
      In this Caldecott Medal-winning story, a young boy named Max becomes too rambunctious for his mother, so she makes him go to bed without eating. While sitting in his room, Max decides to escape into his imagination. He sails to the forest where the creatures or "wild things" live. As he sails to this place in his imagination, the illustrations grow to fill the page. Here, Max reigns as their king as they dance and roar and bare their teeth at each other. Max decides that he misses home and wants to leave the wild things. He sails back home where his mother showed her love for her son by leaving dinner for him in his room. At this point in the book, the illustrations shrink back to one page.
      This book would be most appropriate for first, second, and third grade. It would be a fantastic book for a read-aloud in these classrooms. Additionally, I would keep this in my classroom library. This book is great for students who are not completely literate yet because the illustrations tell the story without words. Therefore, this book would also be beneficial to help students learn to read words that they do not know based upon context clues. The illustrations give enough context for students to confidently guess words that they may not have known previously. Additionally, this book teaches forgiveness and second chances. The mother gave her son dinner despite his behavior. Even if students do not have this type of parent in their lives, they need to see this type of love displayed in literature.