Top 10 Maurice Sendak Books

Terrible human-eating monsters, goblins kidnapping babies, little boys being baked within a cake…these are children’s books, right? Today, especially upon his recent passing, Maurice Sendak is a highly revered author of children’s literature, having won numerous awards including the prestigious Caldecott Medal for several of his books.

However, with the publication of Sendak’s first book in 1956, he revolutionized the world of American children’s literature and was praised but also criticized, even censored. Typically in the U.S., children’s stories portray a world that is safe and teach morals. The child characters are also clean and innocent.

The best writers write what they know – their honesty is what makes the story compelling. Sendak grew up in a world of the Great Depression, World War II and the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh’s son. The latter gave a 4-year-old Sendak the impression that the world is not safe for anyone, even the rich and famous, and served as inspiration for his book, Outside Over There.

Bad things happened to the children, things got scary. “Sendak did not lie to children,” said Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post. Nor did he lie about children. Rather, Sendak’s characters were selfish, stubborn smart-alecks. Sendak even referred to Max of Where the Wild Things Are as “a rotten kid.” They were also independent and strong, figuring things out for themselves.

Not only was Sendak a solid writer, he was also a talented illustrator. “Maurice Sendak…wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche,” wrote Margalit Fox in a New York Times article. Music was also a passion for him. His poetic words had rhyme, repetition and rhythm, easily translated into musicals and operas.

WordPress › Error

There has been a critical error on your website.

Learn more about debugging in WordPress.