Obituary: Maurice Sendak

Renowned children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak died on Tuesday, May 8, in Danbury, Connecticut, from complications of a stroke. He was 83.

The New York Times [1]observed that Sendak’s books, which were “roundly praised, intermittently censored, and occasionally eaten,… were essential ingredients of childhood for the generation born after 1960 or thereabouts, and in turn for their children.”

Among Sendak’s most well-known works are the Caldcott-winning  Where the Wild Thinks Are (1963);  In the Night Kitchen (1970);  Outside Over There (1981), winner of a 1982 National Book Award; and The Nutshell Library (1962), a four-volume set, including Alligators All Around, Chicken Soup With Rice, One Was Johnny, and Pierre. In September 2011, HarperCollins published Bumble-Ardy, the first book authored and illustrated by Sendak in 30 years. A posthumous picture book, My Brother’s Book, inspired by Sendak’s late brother, Jack, is scheduled to be published next February.

Many of Sendak’s works were adapted for stage and screen, including feature film and operatic versions of Where the Wild Things Are and animated and Off Broadway stage productions of Carole King’s Really Rosie, a musical version of The Sign on Rosie’s Door.

The long list of other authors whose works were illustrated by Sendak includes Isaac Bashevis Singer, the Brothers Grimm, and Sendak’s own brother, Jack, and his father, Philip.

Sendak’s lifetime achievement awards include the 1970 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration; the 1983 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, given by the American Library Association for an entire body of work; and a National Medal of Arts in 1996.

In 1991, Sendak illustrated a poster for the ABA Convention, celebrating the freedom to read and featuring well-known banned books, including Catcher in the Rye and The Giving Tree, as well as favorite characters from his own challenged works.