One night Max puts on his wolf suit and makes mischief of one kind and another, so his mother calls him 'Wild Thing' and sends him to bed without his supper.

That night a forest begins to grow in Max's room and an ocean rushes by with a boat to take Max to the place where the wild things are. Max tames the wild things and crowns himself as their king, and then the wild rumpus begins.

But when Max has sent the monsters to bed, and everything is quiet, he starts to feel lonely and realises it is time to sail home to the place where someone loves him best of all.

Max, a wild and naughty boy, is sent to bed without his supper by his exhausted mother. In his room, he imagines sailing far away to a land of Wild Things. Instead of eating him, the Wild Things make Max their king. Soon Max tires of this and sails home, only to find his supper, still hot, waiting for him. Caldecott Medal winner; ALA Notable Children's Book; New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book; Reading Rainbow Selection; The Horn Book Fanfare Honor List.

男孩（Max）因調皮搗蛋，被媽媽關在房間不准吃飯。桑達克以詩般文字搭配圖畫，讓男孩進入一場旅程。Max浪跡天涯來到野獸國，跟一群野獸成天玩鬧，直到有一天想起媽媽，翻山越嶺回到家，家中迎接他的是一頓熱騰騰晚餐。

《野獸國》風靡世界，多次改編為舞台劇，2009年改編為好萊塢真人動畫電影《野獸冒險樂園》。