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Background On The Author
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| Maurice
Sendak was born on on June 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York. A sickly
child, Sendak decided to become an illustrator for children after
he was influenced by Walt Disney's film Fantasia at the age of twelve.
His illustrations were first published in a 1947 textbook entitled
Atomics for the Millions, and he spent the 1950s making a name for
himself as a lavish artist for children's books. He found international acclaim with "Where the Wild Things Are," though the book's portrayals of fanged monsters concerned parents when it was first released. Sendak's attractions to the dark, forbidden, nightmarish aspects of children's fantasy has made him a subject of controversy in some areas. The book has thrilled young viewers since it's creation with simple but focused story. It tells the story of Max, a mischeivous young boy who goes to an imaginary place and crowns himself king. Sendak's influential and popular 1970 book "In the Night Kitchen" has regularly been subjected to censorship for presenting pictures of a young boy innocently prancing naked through the story; the book has been banned in various areas, and there is a rumour that in other places it has been re-touched and edited to include "diapers" on the illustrations of its young hero. This may, however, be an urban legend. (In the Night Kitchen regularly appears on the American Library Association's list of "frequently challenged and banned books," including the "Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2004 Sendak produced an animated TV production
based on his work entitled Really Rosie, featuring Carole King,
which was broadcast in 1975 and is available on video (usually as
part of video compilations of his work). He adapted Where the Wild
Things Are into a stage production in 1979, and in 1983 he designed
an award-winning stage production of Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker
for the Pacific Northwest Ballet.
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