''The Wild Things'' is a 2009 full-length novel written by

Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...

and published by

McSweeney's McSweeney's Publishing is an American non-profit publishing house founded by Dave Eggers in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco. Initially publishing the literary journal'' Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', the company has moved to ...

. The book is based on the screenplay of ''

Where the Wild Things Are ''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. The book has been adapted into other media several tim ...

'' which Eggers co-wrote. The film is, in turn, based on Maurice Sendak's children's book ''

''.

Development

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 book, Eggers incorporated parts of his own boyhood into the character. American children's novels Novels by Dave Eggers McSweeney's books 2009 American novels 2009 children's books Novels based on films {{2000s-child-novel-stub