Sendak designed sets and costumes for stage versions of his books and other productions as well. He also used his creative talents in a number of other forms, collaborating with Carole King for the musical Really Rosie. And I did not want to reduce Max to the trite image of the good little boy that you find in too many books.' Where the Wild Things Are earned Sendak a Caldecott Medal, a special honor for children's book illustration.ĭuring his long career, Sendak produced more than 50 books, including In the Night Kitchen (1970) and Outside Over There (1981). 'There's a cruelty to childhood, there's an anger. 'In plain terms, a child is a complicated creature who can drive you crazy,' Sendak once said in an interview. The main character Max, like many of Sendak's protagonists, acted like a real child, not some idealized version of youth. Sendak's dark, moody illustrations were a shocking contrast to the usually light and happy fare found in a typical children's book of the time. Sendak captured the public's imagination with this tale of a boy's journey into a strange land inhabited by grotesque yet appealing monsters. Before long, he turned the children's book world upside down with his 1963 masterpiece Where the Wild Things Are. In 1956, Sendak published Kenny's Window, the first children's book he both wrote and illustrated himself. During the 1950s, he worked on books by such authors as Ruth Krauss and Else Holmelund Minarik. She helped Sendak land his first job illustrating children's books. Schwarz in the late 1940s, Sendak met legendary children's book editor Ursula Nordstrom. While working on window displays for New York's famed toy store F.A.O.

Sendak excelled at art, landing a part-time job at All-American Comics while in high school. The son of a dressmaker, he was a sickly child who started drawing to pass the time. Early Yearsīeloved children's book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Later in his career Sendak collaborated with Carole King on the musical Really Rosie and has done other work for the stage. His most critically acclaimed work includes the dark and beloved story Where the Wild Things Are. The now-renowned children's author studied at the Art Students League and illustrated more than 80 books by other writers before authoring one himself. Maurice Sendak was born on Jin New York City.

Where the wild things are art