Where the Wild Things Are (video game) levels allow Max to traverse background and foreground layers of the stage. "Where the Wild Things Are" received "mixed" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. While acknowledging its graphics and other elements as commendable, the majority of critics noted the game's lack of depth as a major pitfall. Seth Schiesel of "The New York Times" considered the Wii version "more than a little disappointing." He also noted that while it's "not a sloppy or slipshod game," "The combat in "Wild Things" could charitably be described as minimalist in that all you ever have to do,
Where the Wild Things Are "School Library Journal" sponsored a survey of readers which identified "Where the Wild Things Are" as top picture book. Elizabeth Bird, the NYPL librarian who conducted the survey, observed that there was little doubt it would be voted number one and highlighted its designation by one reader as a watershed, "ushering in the modern age of picture books". Another called it "perfectly crafted, perfectly illustrated ... simply the epitome of a picture book" and noted that Sendak "rises above the rest in part because he is subversive". President Barack Obama has read it aloud for children attending the White House