1960's The Arts | Where the Wild Things Are

Fictional work

By: Maurice Sendak

Date: 1963

Source: Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are. New York: HarperCollins, 1984.

About the Artist: Maurice Sendak (1928–) is the youngest of three children born to Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he drew scenes of his immigrant neighborhood. Formal art training took place at the Art Students League in New York. Sendak has illustrated other authors' works but prefers writing and illustrating his own material. Sendak was the first American to win the Hans Christian Anderson Award, for In the Night Kitchen (1970).

Introduction

Although nineteenth century children's books had been vivid and sometimes frightening, twentieth century parents and children were accustomed to milder topics than monsters in the bedroom. Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, a 1964 Caldecott...