Maurice Sendak is a children’s author and illustrator. He is called the “Picasso of children’s literature” and became known for his book “Where the Wild Things Are.”
Here is an interesting interview that I enjoyed watching about Maurice on his art and writing. Maurice Sendak: “Where the Wild Things Are”
American Masters on PBS writes, “Throughout the 1950s, Sendak worked regularly, producing nearly fifty illustrated children’s books. He saw in book illustration the opportunity to expand the imaginary world of the reader. While many illustrators had concentrated on clarifying the images in the text, Sendak believed that an illustration should add to the mystery of the work. His oddly grotesque characters seemed strangely inviting in their imperfections.”
Here are some of my favorite quotes by Maurice about children:
“Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do.”
“It’s only adults who read the top layers most of the time. I think children read the internal meanings of everything.”
“Children are tough, though we tend to think of them as fragile. They have to be tough. Childhood is not easy. We sentimentalize children, but they know what’s real and what’s not. They understand metaphor and symbol. If children are different from us, they are more spontaneous. Grown-up lives have become overlaid with dross.”
“Parents shouldn’t assume children are made out of sugar candy and will break and collapse instantly. Kids don’t. We do.”
Enjoy some of his illustrations below! I’m sure many of you will remember them from your childhood.
Coffee, a Thought, and a Crumpet... 