June 10 – Happy Birthday, Maurice Sendak

PostednJune 10, 2013

nHenhated school. But he loved books.

nLuckynfor all the rest of us, Maurice Sendak was inspired by Walt Disney’snMickey Mouse and Fantasia, by his father’s retellings of Biblenstories and folktales, and by children’s illustrators such asnRandolph Caldecott and Beatrix Potter. n

Bornnon the same date as my mom but the same year as my dad—which makesnme feel ridiculously connected to the man!—Maurice Sendak began tonillustrate children’s books when he was just 19 years old. His mostnfamous illustrations of the period before he began writing books arenthe charming drawings in Else Holmelund Minarik’s Little Bearnseries.

nWhennSendak was 35 years old, he wrote and illustrated the book Where thenWild Things Are. He quickly became famous worldwide, although somenthought the wild things were too grotesque and the story too—well,ntoo wild! n

nSendaknloved getting fan letters from children and prided himself onnanswering all of them. Most of his responses were “hasty,” as henput it—he was a busy guy, and he had a lot of fans—but one letternand hand-drawn picture from a boy named Jim really caught hisnattention. Sendak reports that he took some time with his response tonlittle Jim, and he drew a Wild Thing on his response back.

nSonsome lucky boy now had an original Sendak! Wow! That must be worth anlot of money, right?

Nooooo…becausenthe little boy loved that letter from Sendak so much that he ate it!
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nSendak loved this anecdote. He said, “Thatnto me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. Hendidn’t care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing ornanything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”

nInthink little Jim might have been a bit of a Wild Thing himself!

nMauricenSendak was born in Brooklyn, New York. He explained that what othersnmay think of as his dark side developed young, as he and his familynlived in the shadow of the Holocaust; all of his aunts and uncles innPoland died at the hands of Nazis! Sendak died a little more than anyear ago in Connecticut.

nCelebratenSendak!

Whichnof Maurice Sendak 22 books is your favorite? Aside from thenfantabulous WtWTA, I particularly love ThenSign on Rosie’s Door.nn

nMaybenyou can do an exploration at the local library to read some thatnyou’ve never read before, in honor of Sendak’s birthday. n

nOrnre-read all your favorites. n

nOrnwatch the movie Wherenthe Wild Things Are.

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Checknout some books that Sendak illustrated but didn’t write. (There arendozens!)nDoes he have lots of different styles of art? One of my favorites isnAnHole Is to Dig,nby Ruth Krauss and Jandy Nelson.

nIfnyou really get into it today, you can have an entire Wild Things party! Let the wild rumpus start!

nAlsonon this date: