Maurice Sendak

Illustrator / Writer

Maurice Sendak wrote and drew the classic children's book Where the Wild Things Are, first published in 1963. Sendak grew up in Brooklyn, the child of Polish immigrants. As a young man he worked as an illustrator of comics before gaining more work as an illustrator of other authors' books. After a brief stint as a window decorator for toy store F.A.O. Schwartz, Sendak turned to illustrating children's books full-time. An immediate critical success, his own creation Where the Wild Things Are initially caused some controversy and was not an immediate popular hit. It is the story of Max, a rambunctious boy who is sent to his room without dinner for shouting at his mother, "I'll eat you up!" Concerned adults considered Max a bad role model and thought the drawings were too scary for younger children. Nonetheless, it became popular with children and parents alike over the years and has since been translated into more than a dozen languages and sold millions of copies. Sendak has written and illustrated several children's books, including In the Night Kitchen (1971) and Outside Over There (1982), has illustrated dozens of works by other authors and has decorated sets and costumes for stage and television productions of several operas. One of the most respected children's authors in the field, he has been awarded the Caldecott Prize, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal and the National Medal of Arts. In 2003 Sendak was the first recipient of the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature.

Other authors for young readers include Avi, Beatrix Potter and Eric Carle.