The Wild Things The Wild Things The Wild Things is a 2009 full-length novel written by Dave Eggers and published by McSweeney's. The book is based on the screenplay of "Where the Wild Things Are" which Eggers co-wrote. The film is, in turn, based on Maurice Sendak's children's book "Where the Wild Things Are". According to the Acknowledgements of the novel, Eggers, who was asked by Spike Jonze to write the screenplay, was also asked by Sendak to write the novelization. He said his version is different, as Sendak's Max was based on Sendak, Jonze's was based on Jonze, and while writing the
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