Maurice Sendak is a famous and influential illustrator best known for his children's books. With work spanning half a century, Sendak is a quite an interesting person. He was born in Brooklyn in 1928 and was sickly for most of his childhood. For this reason, he had to stay inside a lot, and so he began to really love books and drawing. After high school, he worked as a window dresser for F.A.O. Schwartz, an upscale New York toy store, while attending art school. He also began work illustrating books written by other people.
"Throughout the 1950s, Sendak worked regularly, producing nearly fifty illustrated children’s books. He saw in book illustration the opportunity to expand the imaginary world of the reader. While many illustrators had concentrated on clarifying the images in the text, Sendak believed that an illustration should add to the mystery of the work. His oddly grotesque characters seemed strangely inviting in their imperfections," (PBS, American Masters).
By 1963, Sendak had already risen to fame as an interesting and different artist. But that year he gained true respect as a great illustrator with his most famous work, "Where the Wild Things Are." It was the first project in which he was both writer and illustrator. At first the book caused quite a controversy. Parents and even child psychologists said the pictures were too scary and that the main character, Max, was a bad influence. But eventually, this book came to be loved by both adults and children. It was even recently made into a movie.
Sendak wrote other children's books as well. The best known besides "Where the Wild Things Are" is called "In the Night Kitchen." and was published in 1971. This book still makes the list of the American Library Association's 100 most challenged books even today. The main objection is that the little boy in the story, Mickey, is naked through most the book. Even so, both of these books continue to be very popular.
JH
