Posted
June 10, 2013
He
hated school. But he loved books.
Lucky
for all the rest of us, Maurice Sendak was inspired by Walt Disney's
Mickey Mouse and Fantasia, by his father's retellings of Bible
stories and folktales, and by children's illustrators such as
Randolph Caldecott and Beatrix Potter.
Born
on the same date as my mom but the same year as my dad—which makes
me feel ridiculously connected to the man!—Maurice Sendak began to
illustrate children's books when he was just 19 years old. His most
famous illustrations of the period before he began writing books are
the charming drawings in Else Holmelund Minarik's Little Bear
series.
When
Sendak was 35 years old, he wrote and illustrated the book Where the
Wild Things Are. He quickly became famous worldwide, although some
thought the wild things were too grotesque and the story too—well,
too wild!
Sendak
loved getting fan letters from children and prided himself on
answering all of them. Most of his responses were “hasty,” as he
put it—he was a busy guy, and he had a lot of fans—but one letter
and hand-drawn picture from a boy named Jim really caught his
attention. Sendak reports that he took some time with his response to
little Jim, and he drew a Wild Thing on his response back.
So
some lucky boy now had an original Sendak! Wow! That must be worth a
lot of money, right?
Nooooo...because
the little boy loved that letter from Sendak so much that he ate it! Sendak loved this anecdote. He said, “That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever received. He didn't care that it was an original Maurice Sendak drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.”
I
think little Jim might have been a bit of a Wild Thing himself!
Maurice
Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York. He explained that what others
may think of as his dark side developed young, as he and his family
lived in the shadow of the Holocaust; all of his aunts and uncles in
Poland died at the hands of Nazis! Sendak died a little more than a
year ago in Connecticut.
Celebrate
Sendak!
Which
of Maurice Sendak 22 books is your favorite? Aside from the
fantabulous WtWTA, I particularly love The
Sign on Rosie's Door.
Maybe
you can do an exploration at the local library to read some that
you've never read before, in honor of Sendak's birthday.
Or
re-read all your favorites.
Or
watch the movie Where
the Wild Things Are.
Check
out some books that Sendak illustrated but didn't write. (There are
dozens!)
Does he have lots of different styles of art? One of my favorites is
A
Hole Is to Dig,
by Ruth Krauss and Jandy Nelson.
If
you really get into it today, you can have an entire Wild Things party! Let the wild rumpus start!
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
Check
out my Pinterest pages on June
holidays, historical
anniversaries in June,
and June
birthdays.
And
here are my Pinterest pages on July
holidays, historical
anniversaries in July, and July
birthdays.
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