Maurice Sendak
American Author and Illustrator
Maurice Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was the
youngest of 3 children. When he was young boy his father read him
lots of bedtime stories.
When Maurice was a child, he was often sick. He would look out the
window and watch kids playing and he drew pictures of them.
His mother was worried constantly about his health and safety. You
will see that most of his books have a moon somewhere in the picture
watching over the scene. The moon is his mother peaking out the
window at him when he was a child to be sure he was alright.
Because he spent much of his childhood indoors, he turned to books at
an early age. His view of the outside world was often limited to the
family that came to visit him and things he could see from his window.
When he was little, he went with his family to see Walt Disney’s
Fantasia. This had a great influence on him.
In high school he started his career as an illustrator. He assisted on
the “Mutt and Jeff” cartoon strip. He went to art school to learn more
and even drew pictures for a science book.
After high school Maurice worked at a toy store. Helped make displays
for the store’s windows. At night he took classes at the New York Art
Students League.
In 1951, Maurice illustrated 2 books called The Wonderful Farm and A
Hole is to Dig. After this he left F.A.O. Schwartz to become a full-time
children’s book illustrator.
Throughout the 1950’s Maurice illustrated almost 50 children’s books.
By drawing the pictures for books, he saw an opportunity to expand the
imaginary world of the reader.
In 1956, he wrote and illustrated Kenny’s Window. In this book, a boy
answers questions from a dream. He talks to animals and toys.
Maurice Sendak’s most famous book is called Where the
Wild Things Are. Many children love this book about scary
creatures.
Maurice won a Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are in 1964.
This award honors the best children’s books illustrator each year.
Over the following years, Maurice created and illustrated dozens more
books. Here are some of his other well known books.
Maurice has illustrated almost 100 books. His books are some of the
most popular children’s books ever.
His characters from Where the Wild Things Are were even put in a
movie. Maybe some of you have seen it.
Here are some more illustrations from
Where The Wild Things Are.
Let’s create our own Wild Things
Monsters like Maurice Sendak!