Maurice Sendak Biography

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Maurice Sendak (born June 10, 1928) is an American artist and creator of children's literature who is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, to Polish-Jewish immigrant parents. A sickly child, Sendak decided to become an illustrator for children after he was influenced by Walt Disney's film Fantasia at the age of twelve. His illustrations were first published in a 1947 textbook entitled Atomics for the Millions, and he spent the 1950s making a name for himself as a lavish artist for children's books.

Acclaim

He found international acclaim with Where the Wild Things Are, though the book's portrayals of fanged monsters concerned parents when it was first released. Sendak's attractions to the dark, forbidden, nightmarish aspects of children's fantasy has made him a subject of controversy in some areas.

His influential and popular 1970 book In the Night Kitchen has regularly been subjected to censorship for presenting pictures of a young boy innocently prancing naked through the story; the book has been banned in various areas. In the Night Kitchen regularly appears on the American Library Association's list of "frequently challenged and banned books," including listing #25 on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000." [1])

Beyond illustration

Sendak produced an animated TV production based on his work entitled Really Rosie, featuring Carole King, which was broadcast in 1975 and is available on video (usually as part of video compilations of his work). A record and later a CD of the songs were also produced. He adapted his book Where the Wild Things Are for the stage in 1979.

In addition, he has designed sets for many operas and ballets, including the award-winning (1983) Pacific Northwest Ballet production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker , Houston Grand Opera's productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute (1981) and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel (1997), Los Angeles County Music Center's 1990 production of Mozart's Idomeneo, New York City Opera's 1981 production of The Cunning Little Vixen.

In the 1990's Sendak approached playwright Tony Kushner to write a new English version of the Czech composer Hans Krása's children's opera "Brundibar". Kushner wrote the text for Sendak's illustrated book of the same name, published in 2003. The book was named one of the New York Times Book Review's 10 Best Illustrated Books of that year.

In 2003, Chicago Opera Theatre produced Sendak and Kushner's adaptation of Brundibar. In 2005
Berkeley Repertory Theatre, in collaboration with Yale Repertory Theater and Broadway's New Victory Theater, produced a substantially reworked version of the Sendak-Kushner adaptation.

He illustrated Else Holmelund Minarik's Little Bear series of books, which were also made into a successful TV series.

Awards

Where the Wild Things Are won the 1964 Caldecott Medal. In 1970 he won the Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's book illustration, and in 2003 he shared the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award with Christine Nöstlinger, the first time it was awarded.

Film

A live-action feature-length film of Sendak's Where the Wild Thing Are is planned for 2008, to be directed by Spike Jonze and scripted by Dave Eggers, Michael Goldenberg and Jonze.

Partial bibliography

• Very Far Away (1957)
  
• The Nutshell Library
  
  • Chicken Soup with Rice (A Book of Months)
    
  • Alligators All Around (An Alphabet)
    
  • One Was Johnny (A Counting Book)
    
  • Pierre (A Cautionary Tale)
    
  
  
• Where the Wild Things Are (1963)
  
• In the Night Kitchen (1970)
  
• Ten Little Rabbits: A Counting Book With Mino The Magician (1970)
  
• Some Swell Pup or Are You Sure You Want a Dog? (written by Maurice Sendak & Matthew Margolis and illustrated by Maurice Sendak) (1976)
  
• Seven Little Monsters' (1977)
  
• Higglety Pigglety Pop! (1979)
  
• The Sign On Rosie's Door
  
• Outside Over There (1985)
  
• We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy: Two Nursery Rhymes with Pictures (Harper Collins) (1983)
  
• Singing Family of the Cumberlands (written by Jean Ritchie)
  
• Kenny's Window
  
• Maurice Sendak's Christmas Mystery
  
• Hector Protector and As I Went Over the Water: Two Nursery Rhymes
  
• Caldecott and Co: Notes on Books and Pictures (1990)
  
• Mommy (Maurice Sendak's first Pop-up book) (2006)
  

Partial bibliography of illustrations for other authors

• Atomics for the Millions (by Dr. Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff) (1947)
  
• Good Shabbos Everybody (by Robert Garvey) (1951)
  
• A Hole is to Dig (written by Ruth Krauss) (1952)
  
• A Very Special House (written by Ruth Krauss) (1953)
  
• The Tin Fiddle (written by Edward Tripp) (1954)
  
• The Wheel On the School (written by Meindert DeJong) (1954)
  
• Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm (written by Betty MacDonald) (1954)
  
• Seven Little Stories on Big Subjects (written by Gladys Baker Bond) (1955)
  
• I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue (written by Ruth Krauss) (1956)
  
• The Birthday Party (by Ruth Krauss) (1957)
  
• Little Bear, written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak (there was also a TV series based on this series of books)
  
  • Little Bear (1957)
    
  • Father Bear Comes Home (1959)
    
  • Little Bear's Friend (1960)
    
  • Little Bear's Visit (1961)
    
  • A Kiss for Little Bear (1968)
    
  
  
• Along Came A Dog (by Meindert DeJong) (1958)
  
• No Fighting, No Biting! (written by Else Holmelund)(1958)
  
• What Do You Say, Dear? (written by Sesyle Joslin) (1958)
  
• The Moon Jumpers (text by Janice May Udry)(1959)
  
• Open House For Butterflies (by Ruth Krauss) (1960)
  
• Best in Children's Books: Volume 31 (various authors and illustrators: featuring, Windy Wash Day and Other Poems by Dorothy Aldis, illustrated by Maurice Sendak) (1960)
  
• Best in Children's Books: Volume 35 (various authors and illustrators: featuring, Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, illustrated by Maurice Sendak) (1960)
  
• Best in Children's Books: Volume 41 (various authors and illustrators: featuring, What the Good-Man Does Is Always Right by Hans Christian Andersen with illustrations by Maurice Sendak) (1961)
  
• What Do You Do, Dear? (written by Sesyle Joslin) (1961)
  
• The Big Green Book (written by Robert Graves) (1962)
  
• Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (written by Charlotte Zolotow) (1962)
  
• The Singing Hill (Written by Meindert DeJong) (1962) (Harper Row)
  
• Dwarf Long-Nose (by Wilhelm Hauff, translated by Doris Orgell) (1963)
  
• The Griffin and the Minor Canon (by Frank R. Stockton) (1963)
  
• She Loves Me...She Loves Me Not... (written by Robert Keeshan AKA Captain Kangaroo) (1963)
  
• McCall's: August 1964; VOL XCI, No 11 (featuring The Young Crane by Andrei Upits and Illustrated by Maurice Sendak)
  
• The Bee-Man of Orn (by Frank R. Stockton) (1964)
  
• The Animal Family (by Randall Jarrell) (1965)
  
• Lullabyes and Night Songs (by Alec Wilder and edited by William Engvick (1965)
  
• Zlateh The Goat (written by Isaac Bashevis Singer) (1966)
  
• The Bat Poet (by Randall Jarrell) (1966)
  
• A House of Sixty Fathers (written by Meindert De Jong (1966)
  
• The Saturday Evening Post: May 4, 1968; 241st year, issue no. 9 (features Yash The Chimney Sweep by Issac Bashevis Singer and is illustrated by Maurice Sendak)
  
• Happy Hanukah Everybody (written by Hyman Chanover & Alice Chanover) (1969)
  
• I'll Be you and You be Me (written by Ruth Krauss) (1973)
  
• The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm: Volumes 1 & 2 (Translated by Lore Segal with four tales translated by Randall Jarrell) (1973 both volumes)
  
• King Grisly-Beard (by Brothers Grimm) (1973)
  
• Pleasant Fieldmouse (by Jan Wahl) (1975)
  
• The Light Princess (by George MacDonald) (1977)
  
• Nutcracker (written by E.T.A. Hoffmann) (1984)
  
• The Love For Three Oranges (The Glyndebourne Version written by Frank Corsaro based on L'Amour des Trois Oranges (by Serge Prokofiev) (1984)
  
• Circus Girl (by Jack Sendak) (1985)
  
• In Grandpa's House (by Phillip Sendak) (1985)
  
• The Cunning Little Vixen (by Rudolf Tesnohlidek) (1985)
  
• Dear Mili (written by Wilhelm Grimm) (1988)
  
• Sing a Song of Popcorn (by Beatrice Shenk De Regniers with various illustrators including Maurice Sendak) (1988)
  
• The Big Book for Peace (by various authors and illustrators, cover also by Maurice Sendak) (1990)
  
• I Saw Esau (edited by Iona Opie and Peter Opie) (1992)
  
• The Golden Key (by George MacDonald) (1992) ISBN 0-3744-2590-6
  
• The Miami Giant (written by Arthur Yorinks) (1995)
  
• What Can You Do With A Shoe? (written by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers) (1997)
  
• Penthesilea (written by Heinrich von Kleist and Translated and Introduced by Joel Agee) (1998)
  
• Swine Lake (written by James Marshall) (1999)
  
• Brundibar (written by Tony Kushner) (2003)
  
• Sarah's Room (written by Doris Orgel) (2003)
  
• The Happy Rain (written by Jack Sendak) (2004)
  
• Bears! (by Ruth Krauss) (2005)
  
• The Art Of Maurice Sendak (By Selma G. Lanes) (1980)
  
• The Art Of Maurice Sendak: From 1980 to the Present (by Tony Kushner) (2003)
  

External links

• Interview with Maurice Sendak - In free streaming video (RealVideo), from the Northwestern University Library
  
• PBS - American Masters, including short (1 min) video clip.
  
• NPR - Conversation with Maurice Sendak, including 17 minute audio interview.
  
• Princeton University WebMedia Lectures - 70 minute video, from 2000.
  
• MIT May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture: Descent into Limbo dwelling on Andrea Mantegna painting
  
• Maurice Sendak biography and links to more interviews
  
• The Rosenbach Museum & Library is a repository and exhibition space for all of Sendak's drawings[2]
  
• Comedy on the Bridge and Brundibar, a collaboration with Tony Kushner [3]
  
• scenepainting.com gallery of theatrical set designs by Maurice Sendak, among others
  
• Imdb.com "Where the Wild Things Are" movie
  

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