Shortly before starting the illustrations, Sendak realized he did not know how to draw horses and, at the suggestion of his editor, changed the wild horses to the more ambiguous 'Wild Things', a term inspired by the Yiddish expression 'vilde chaya' ('wild animals'), used to indicate boisterous children. The story was supposed to be that of a child who, after a tantrum, is punished in his room and decides to escape to the place that gives the book its title, the 'land of wild horses'. Soon after, he began work on another solo effort. In 1956, he published his first book for which he was the sole author, Kenny's Window (1956). Sendak began his career as an illustrator, but by the mid-1950s he had decided to start both writing and illustrating his own books.

Upon returning to his bedroom, Max discovers a hot supper waiting for him. The creatures do not want him to go and throw themselves into fits of rage as Max calmly sails away home. However, to the Wild Things' dismay, he starts to feel lonely and decides to give up being king and return home. Finally, he stops them and sends them to bed without their supper.

After stopping and intimidating the creatures, Max is hailed as the king of the Wild Things and enjoys a playful romp with his subjects. The Wild Things try to scare Max, but to no avail.

Max's bedroom undergoes a mysterious transformation into a jungle environment, and he winds up sailing to an island inhabited by monsters, simply called the Wild Things. The story 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. It was voted the number one picture book in a 2012 survey of School Library Journal readers, not for the first time. Sendak won the annual Caldecott Medal from the children's librarians in 1964, recognizing Wild Things as the previous year's 'most distinguished American picture book for children'. The book had sold over 19 million copies worldwide as of 2009, with 10 million of those being in the United States. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short film in 1973 (with an updated version in 1988) a 1980 opera and a live-action 2009 feature-film adaptation. Where the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published in hardcover by Harper & Row.

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