Maurice Sendak is an American writer and illustrator. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are.

Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York to Jewish immigrant parents. He had health problems when he was a child but the time in bed allowed him to read a lot. When he was twelve years old, he saw Walt Disney’s film Fantasia. The movie and his love of books inspired Maurice to become an illustrator.

One of Maurice’s first illustration jobs was painting window displays for the toy store F.A.O. Schwarz. His drawings were first published in a textbook titled Atomics for the Millions. He spent several years illustrating children’s books before beginning to write his own stories.

Sendak became famous after writing and illustrating Where the Wild Things Are. The book tells the story of a boy who runs away from home and becomes king to a group of wild monsters. Parents thought the monsters were too scary for a children’s book. The creatures though were actually based on Sendak’s relatives who came to dinner every week. Their accents and unusual mannerisms inspired the young writer. Where the Wild Things Are eventually won the Caldecott Medal, an award for outstanding children’s literature.

The artist’s most controversial book, In the Night Kitchen, was a nightmarish story about a young boy pursued by evil cooks. It was a reference to the Holocaust in Germany that had deeply disturbed Sendak and his family.

Although his books are often dark and even scary, Sendak’s work is beloved by children and their parents. He has illustrated more than seventy-five books and has inspired many other artists, writers, and film-makers. Jim Henson’s movie, Labyrinth, closely follows the plot of Sendak’s book, Outside, Over There, about a girl who must rescue her baby sister from goblins. Sendak was an early member of the Children’s Television Workshop. Through the workshop, he helped Jim Hinson develop a little tv show called Sesame Street. Sendak also designed the sets for many operas and ballets including Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. He adapted his favorite children’s opera, Brundibar, into English. In 1979, Sendak produced a stage version of his book, Where the Wild Things Are and, in 2009, the book was adapted into a movie. There is even an elementary school in North Hollywood, California that is named after the artist.

In 2009, the Rosenbach Museum & Library presented There’s a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak. The retrospective draws on the Museum’s collection of more than 10,000 objects and artworks that Sendak has made over the years. The artist continues to contribute to their collection.

Portrait drawn by yours truly