Where the Wild Things Are the previous year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It was voted the number one picture book in a 2012 survey of "School Library Journal" readers, not for the first time. This story of only 338 words focuses on a young boy named Max who, after dressing in his wolf costume, wreaks such havoc through his household that he is sent to bed without his supper. Max's bedroom undergoes a mysterious transformation into a jungle environment, and he winds up sailing to an island inhabited by malicious beasts known as the "Wild Things." After successfully intimidating the creatures, Max
Where the Wild Things Are (film) film "one of the year's best." Manohla Dargis of the "New York Times" wrote that Spike Jonze's "filmmaking exceeds anything he’s done" before, while also noting the imaginative visuals and otherworldly feel, along with the fantastic creature effects on the "Wild Things". Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave the film four stars saying, "For all the money spent, the film's success is best measured by its simplicity and the purity of its innovation." Roger Ebert awarded the film three stars out of four. Some critics have noted the movie's dark adaptation for children, such as David Denby from "The New