November 13, 1963: "Where the Wild Things Are" Is Published

November 13, 1963: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is published. It becomes one of the most beloved children's books of all time.

Born in 1928 in Brooklyn, Sendak's brother Jack also became an author of children's books. They came from a family with several members, who hadn't left Europe for America but they were still in touch with, murdered in the Nazis' Holocaust. Walt Disney's 1940 film Fantasia inspired him to become an illustrator, and by 1947, still in high school, he had already been published. He became known for illustrating the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik.

But he had never written his own until Where the Wild Things Are. The story tells of Max, who, after dressing in his wolf suit, wreaks such havoc through his household that he is sent to bed without his supper. Max imagines his bedroom undergoing a mysterious transformation into a jungle environment, and he winds up sailing to an island inhabited by monsters, simply called the Wild Things.

The Wild Things try to scare Max, but it doesn't work. After stopping and intimidating the creatures, Max is hailed as the King of the Wild Things, and enjoys a playful romp with his subjects. Finally, he stops them and sends them to bed without their supper.

However, to the Wild Things' dismay, he starts to feel lonely, and decides to give up being King and return home. The creatures do not want him to go, and throw themselves into fits of rage as Max calmly sails away home. Upon returning to his bedroom, Max discovers a hot supper waiting for him.

The book's depictions of fanged monsters concerned some parents when it was first published, as his characters were somewhat grotesque in appearance. But the book's popularity was immediate, and has never waned. Sendak later recounted the reaction of a fan:

A little boy sent me a charming card with a little drawing on it. I loved it. I answer all my children's letters – sometimes very hastily – but this one I lingered over. I sent him a card and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, "Dear Jim: I loved your card." Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said: "Jim loved your card so much he ate it." That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever received. He didn't care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.

An animated adaptation was released in 1973. In 2009, Spike Jonze directed a live-action version, starring Max Records as Max, Catherine Keener as his mother, Mark Ruffalo as her live-in boyfriend, and, among the voices of Wild Things, James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara, Paul Dano, and Jonze himself.

Sendak died in 2012.

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November 13, 1963 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the St. Louis Hawks, 106-102 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 114-110 at the Boston Garden.

* And the San Francisco Warriors beat the Cincinnati Royals, 98-92 at the Cincinnati Gardens. It was just another day at the office for Wilt Chamberlain: He scored 49 points, and grabbed 22 rebounds.

There were 2 games played in the NHL. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens played to a tie, 2-2 at the Montreal Forum. And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Boston Bruins, 6-4 at the Chicago Stadium. The New York Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings were not scheduled.