Bookbag Activities for
Where the Wild Things Are
By: Jessica Strohl

• Sendak, Maurice (1963). Where the Wild Things Are. Harper Collins Pub.

Rationale:

• I chose this book because it is one of my favorites. It is a fun and imaginative book. It is one that kids love and respond well to. There are a lot of activities that you can do with this book as well.

About the Author:

• Maurice Sendak was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1928. He was the youngest of three children. He was sickly as a child and his mothers worried a lot about his health. In most of his illustrations you will see a moon somewhere in the picture watching over the scene. This is a representation of his mother always peaking out a window at him as a child. He loved books as a child and loved his father to read to him. He didn’t really like school, but he did love to read. Some of his favorite books as a child included The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, A Child’s Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Typee and Moby Dick by Herman Melville.
• Sendak began illustrating when he was still in high school. Some of his work includes pictures for the comic strip Mutt and Jeff. He went to art school to further his education. When he was only 19 years old he co-authored his very first published book, Atomics for the Millions. Since then he has given us many wonderful books.

Questions to use with the story:

Questions to ask before reading:

• What do you think wild things are?
• Do you think that wild things really exist?
• What do you do when you get in trouble at home?
• What is the craziest dream you ever had?

Questions to ask while reading:

• Describe how you picture the wild things in your mind.
• Would you be scared of the wild things?
• What would you do if you were Max?
• Do you wish you could have a wild rompus with the wild things?

Questions to ask after reading:

• Where did Max go in this story?
• What would you have done to tame the Wild things?
• What do you think Max was thinking when he met the wild things?
• What do you think would have happened if Max weren’t able to tame the wild things?
• Did Max really go to this place and meet the Wild things? If not, where did he go? What happened in the book?

Activities to use with the story:

• Have students write a story of their own adventure with a “Wild Thing.” Ask them to describe where they went, what they did, what the “Wild Thing” looked like, was it friendly or mean, etc.
• Have each student draw a picture of their own “Wild Thing” and compile them to make a class book of “Wild Things.”
• Provide costumes and have students act out a play of this book. You can let them act out the book exactly as it is written or let students change it however they want.
• Have students write daily journals of their daily adventures with “Wild Things.”
• Pass out legal size paper to each student. Have them fold them into thirds. Have each child draw a head of a “Wild Thing” on the top 1/3 of the paper. Then have them pass them on to someone else and that person will draw a body of a “Wild Thing” on the middle 1/3 of the paper. Then they pass them on again and that person adds the feet or a “Wild Thing” to the bottom 1/3 of the paper. Display them for all to see. To make it even more interesting, you can have students foldPass out legal size paper to each student. Have them fold them into thirds. Have each child draw a h
• Provide each student with a Styrofoam cup. Have them decorate their cup with the face of a “Wild Thing.” Then have them fill the cup with potting soil and grass seeds in it. When the grass begins to grow, it looks like the hair of the “Wild Thing.”
• Bring music to class and have a “Wild Rompus” with students.
• Bring in butcher paper and have students work in small groups to create giant “Wild Things.” Provide markers, magazines, scissors, etc. to create the “Wild Things.” Hang them in the halls or walls of your room.
• Make monster cookies in class or bring monster cookies for students.
• Take a field trip to the zoo or a museum with dinosaurs (or something along these lines) to see “Wild Things” up close!

Props:

• Music
• costumes
• pictures of wild things
• masks

Bibliography:

Books by Sendak:

• Nutshell Library
• Chicken Soup with Rice: A book of Months
• In the Night Kitchen
• We are all in the dumps with Jack & Guy
• Seven Little Monsters
• Outside over there

Other books:

• Go Away Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley
• There’s a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer
• The Monster Boring by Barbara Donnelly Lane, Melissa McMahon
• BFG by Roald Dahl
• The Boy Under the Bed by Preston McClear
• Too Many Monsters by Eve Bunting

Assessment:

Students will be assessed on:

• Their comprehension and knowledge of the book.
• Their understanding of imagination and using it to their fullest.
• Their creativity and effort on projects.
• Their participation in activities.

The book will be assessed on:

• How children respond to it.
• How easy or difficult it is to get children enthused about it.

I will be assessed on:

• How excited I am to get students involved.
• My effort in presenting the book.