Where the Wild Things Are Trivia

Maurice Sendak's publishers wanted him to change the last word of the book from "hot" to "warm" because they worried that if the food Max's mom left for him was hot, it might burn Max. Seriously. (Source)

The original title of the book was Where the Wild Horses Are…until Sendak realized he couldn't draw horses. (Source)

Sendak's first published illustrations were pictures he did for a 1947 science textbook called Atomics for the Millions. (Source)

Where the Wild Things Are is one of President Obama's favorite books. (Source)

For Maurice Sendak, being sent to bed without supper would have been a good thing—not a punishment. As he told Bill Moyers, "I often went to bed without supper cause I hated my mother's cooking. So, to go to bed without supper was not a torture to me. If she was gonna hurt me, she'd make me eat." (Source)