Remembering Maurice Sendak: "Where the Wild Things Are"

Maurice Sendak, renowned children's author and illustrator passed away today. In just ten sentences, Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are entertained countless children and also helped them cope with darker, even neglected, parts of a child's psyche.

I never met Maurice Sendak but I had the pleasure of witnessing every one of my students develop a love of his books. I watched children draw their own monsters, either laughing, using their imaginations, or helping them cope with their fears or situations. I saw children internalize, understand, and learn through Sendak's words and illustrations.

 Where the Wild Things Are powerfully demonstrates that art, imagination and daydreaming allow children to turn traumatic moments into vehicles for survival and growth. Two of Sendak’s other children’s books, In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There, also focus on child rage and emotional unavailability of a mother. 
 

Sendak described his childhood as a "terrible situation" because of his extended family's dying in the Holocaust, which exposed him at an early age to death and the concept of mortality. His love of books began at an early age when he developed health problems and was confined to his bed. He decided to become an illustrator after viewing Walt Disney's film Fantasia at the age of twelve.

Winner of the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are, in 1970 Sendak became the first American illustrator to receive the international Hans Christian Andersen Award. In 1983, he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, also given for his entire body of work. In 1997, Sendak received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton. In 2003 he received the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international prize for children's literature established by the Swedish government. 

Beginning in 1952, with A Hole Is to Dig by Ruth Krauss, Sendak's illustrations have enhanced many texts by other writers, including the Little Bear books and The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm. Dear Mili, Sendak's interpretation of a newly discovered tale by Wilhelm Grimm, was published to extraordinary acclaim in 1988.

Sendak both wrote and illustrated The Nutshell Library (1962), Higglety Pigglety Pop! (1967), In the Night Kitchen (1970), Outside Over There (1981), and We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy (1993). He also illustrated Swine Lake (1999), Brundibar (2003), Bears (2005) and, Mommy? (2006), his first pop-up book.

We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy

Sendak created "Seven Little Monsters," a children's television series that showed the not-so-little monsters learning about life. He also helped create and write the Nick Jr. show "Little Bear."

Sendak designed the sets and costumes for highly regarded productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute and Idomeneo, Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges, and Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. 

Today, a great author, unique illustrator and true artist passed away.  For more than forty years, the books Maurice Sendak wrote and illustrated have nurtured children and adults alike, but also challenged established ideas about what children's literature is and should be.  I'm sure many future generations will enjoy and benefit from Sendak's brilliance. His classic story of Max and those monsters who "roared their terrible roars and gnashed their terrible teeth" will continue to span time and influence generation after generation. He will be missed.

For tips on parenting and teaching,see my book
Kindergarten: Tattle-Tales, Tools, Tactics, Triumphs
and Tasty-Treats for Teachers and Parents. 

This is part of a Linky on Children's Books:

Linky Hosts:
www.momto2poshlildivas.com
www.readingconfetti.com
www.smilinglikesunshine1.blogspot.com
www.carrotsareorange.com
www.teachpreschool.org
www.toddlerapproved.com
www.mamamiasheart2heart.com
http://jennifischer.blogspot.com