Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak was born in New York in 1928, the youngest of three children, and grew up in Brooklyn. His Jewish family had immigrated to the United States from Poland before World War I. A sickly child, Sendak decided to become an illustrator for children’s books after he was influenced by Walt Disney's film Fantasia at the age of twelve. An early source of inspiration for his work and love of books was his father who often told imaginative stories to him and his brother and sister. His illustrations were first published in a 1947 textbook entitled Atomics for the Millions, and in the next decade he was established as a lavish astist for children’s books.

Today, Maurice Sendak is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963. This book, about a boy who was banished to his bedroom without his supper, was awarded the 1964 Caldecott Medal. Sendak has also written and illustrated several children’s books, including In the Night Kitchen (1971) and Outside Over There (1982). Furthermore, he has illustrated dozens of works by other authors and has decorated sets and costumes for stage and television productions of several operas.

“My great curiosity [is] about childhood as a state of being, and how all children manage to get through child hood from one day to the next, how they defeat boredom, fear, pain and anxiety and find joy. It is a constant miracle to me that children manage to grow up.”