Maurice Sendak Author and Illustrator

1. Maurice SendakAuthor and Illustrator 1928-Present

2. Maurice Sendak • He was born in Brooklyn, NY on June 10th, 1928. • His mom and dad moved to the US from Poland. • He was the youngest of one brother and one sister. • He disliked school because it stifled his creativity • He has been writing and illustrating for over 50 years and has contributed to over 80 children’s books. • He has also produced TV shows, operas, plays, and ballets for children.

3. Inspiration • He was sick a lot when young which left him inside where he drew and read comics. • His father was a vivid storyteller. • His mother watched over him and protected him. • His brother encouraged him to draw and wrote stories himself. • His sister used to bring him home books from the library. • His large family was at his house often waiting for his mother to make food. • Disney’s Fantasia

4. Influences • His favorite authors were Herman Melville, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, and Robert Louis Stevenson. • He loved Mozart and other classical music. • He loved Mickey Mouse and often based characters on him. • He was inspired by many different artists as he used a variety of styles in his illustrations: • Impressionism, Romanticism, Realism • Nearly all of his books include some aspect of his life.

5. Writing Style • His difficult life led him to write books to help children face their fears and emotions and overcome them. • He doesn’t sugarcoat his stories. • He was the first to write such stories and children loved them! • His characters are strong-willed, honest, and imaginative. • A major theme is child abuse and neglect. • His works reveal his belief that illustrations shouldn’t clarify text, they should extend and carry it.

6. Controversy • In the Night Kitchen—naked child, cooks with mustaches like Hitler’s, child is threatened to be put into the oven • 25th of 100 most frequently challenged books in the last decade • Where the Wild Things Are—monsters are much too scary for children • Wild Things were actually meant to be his family. • Those who criticize are adults who don’t remember how their childhoods really were.

7. Embracing the Child • http://www.embracingthechild.org/Bookspecialsendak.htm • “Sendak was pleased when he learned that the book was very successful with autistic children. A child who had never spoken asked to have the book after hearing it read. And on another occasion, Sendak received a letter from an 8 year old asking, ‘How much does it cost to get to where the wild things are? If it is not expensive, my sister and I would like to spend the summer there.’"

8. First Works as an Illustrator • Dr. Eidinoff’s Atomic s For The Millions (1947) • Marcel Ayme's The Wonderful Farm (1951) • Ruth Kraus’s A Hole Is to Dig (1952) • Kenny’s Window (1956) 1. Where the Wild Things Are (1963) Caldecott Medal 2. In the Night Kitchen (1970) Caldecott Medal Honor 3. Outside Over There (1981) Caldecott Medal Honor First Whole Book The Trilogy

9. Other Books • Very Far Away (1957) • The Sign on Rosie’s Door (1960)—about a girl in his neighborhood • The Nutshell Library (1962)—concept books • Hector the Protector and As I Went Over the Water (1965) • HiggletyPigglety Pop, or There Must be More to Life (1967)—Scottish Terrior, Jennie • Seven Little Monsters (1977) • We Are All in the Dumps and Jack and Guy (1993)—Homelessness and living on streets of Rio de Janeiro • Swine Lake (1999)—German Shepherd, Max

10. Theatrical Works in 1980’s • Stage Productions of: • Mozart’s The Magic Flute an opera (1980) • Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker a ballet (1983) • Where the Wild Things Are an opera(1979) • HiggletyPigglety Pop! • TV productions: • Really Rosie, Starring the Nutshell Kids, and Seven Monsters • He was on the National Board of Advisers of the Children's Television Workshop during the development of Sesame Street

11. Awards and Honors • Caldecott Medal Award in 1964 for • Where the Wild Things Are • 1st to win Empire State Award for Excellence • in Literature for Children • 1st American to win the Hans Christian Andersen International Award • Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal • American Book Award • National Medal of Arts • President's Award Medal • 1st to win Astrid Lindgren Award—an international Swedish award for children's literature • Jewish Cultural Achievement Award in Visual Arts

12. Interesting Quotes “I've devoted my life to those other freaky kids who lick, sniff, and carry on over their books before they even read them.”—Maurice Sendak, Childhood Books I Remember “Perhaps no one has done as much to show the power of the written word on children, not to mention on their parents, as Maurice Sendak.”—President Clinton, January 9, 1997. In his life as in his books, Sendak is a passionate advocate of children: “These are difficult times for children. Children have to be brave to survive what the world does to them. And this world is scrungier and rougher and dangerouser than it ever was before.”

13. Book talks Grades 2-4 Grades 3-5

14. (1964) Where the Wild Things Are

15. During and Post-Reading Pre-Reading • Ask: Who wrote Where the Wild Things Are? Who illustrated it? • Ask children to begin thinking about illustrations. • Direct Children to specific illustrations in the book. • Ask children to use pictures to learn more about the book. • Ask children to use pictures to figure out the meanings of difficult words.

16. Reading skill • Students will identify literary elements in stories describing characters, setting, and plot. • Students will be directed to look at specific pictures in the book to discuss these elements during and after reading . • Students will write their own stories that include different characters, illustrated settings, and a logical plot.

17. Extending Activities http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/dvd/ • Students’ experience of the forest that grew in Max’s room will be enriched by completing an experiment with dissecting seeds and growing their own plants. • Students’ experience of the illustrations will be enriched by drawing their own silly wild things and making up sentences about them. Science Art

18. Evaluation • Max is a child who seeks attention from his mother. When he does not get it, he puts his wolf suit on and misbehaves . He refuses to listen to her and tells her he will eat her up. She sends him to his room with no dinner as a consequence. Here, he learns how to cope with his strong emotions and tunnels his anger and frustration into imagining an adventure to where the wild things are… • This book is full of many artistic elements

19. Reaction • He was the first to make children’s book realistic and not sugarcoated. He wasn’t afraid to write about things that children struggle with, fear, think about, or face. I agree that children are often overly protected these days and that they need more exposure to different things. • His illustrations are not like the traditional drawings of children’s books. He uses dark, drab colors and cross hatch using pen and ink for the shading which add to the darkness of his illustrations. His pictures in books such as Where the Wild Things Are and Outside Over There are somewhat scary and disturbing for younger audiences. Aside from the non-traditional aspects of his work, He is a very talented and gifted artist.

20. Resources • About Maurice Sendak. (2007). American Masters. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from • http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/maurice-sendak/about-maurice-sendak/701/. • Alderson, B. (1993). Maurice before Max: The yonder side of the see-saw.  Horn Book Magazine, 69: • 3, 291-295. • Davis, D. M., & Schiller, J. G. (2009). About Us: Maurice Sendak. Battledore, Ltd: Books, Art & • Propaganda. Retrieved March 31, 2010 from www.childlit.com/battledore/aboutus/ maurice-sendak.php?gclid= CJaFmYjVk6ACFaAO5Qody Fv3gg. • Lanes, S. G. (n.d.). Maurice Sendak - The Picasso of Children's Books. Children's Books at • Embracing The Child - Literature for Learning and Shared Reading. Retrieved April 6, 2010 from http://www.embracingthechild.org/Bookspecialsendak.htm . • Maurice Sendak. (2010). NNDB: Tracking the entire world. Retrieved March 31, 2010 from • http://www.nndb.com/people/275/000023206/. • Maurice Sendak. (n.d.). Free Essays, Cliff Notes & Term Paper Database. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from • http://www.essays.cc/free_essays/c1/bae142.shtml. • Maurice Sendak Biography (1928-). (n.d.). Film Reference. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from • http://www.filmreference.com/film/14/Maurice-Sendak.html.

21. Resources cont’d Maurice Sendak: Biography. (n.d.). Reference Answers. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from   http://www.answers.com/topic/maurice-sendak. Maurice Sendak's Works. (2002). HOME PAGE of the Bookstall. Retrieved March 31, 2010 from http://www.bookstallsf.com/sendak.html. O'Keeffe, H. (2007). Maurice Sendak. Fact Monster: Online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and Homework Help — FactMonster.com. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0801320.html. Picture Book Authors & Illustrators. (n.d.). Comcast.net: Personal Web Pages.Retrieved March 31, 2010 from http://home.comcast.net/~bswetits/ Pathfinders/Authors&Illustrators/PictureBook Authors&Illustrators.htm. Setoodeh, R., & Romano, A. (2009). Where the Wild Things Are. Newsweek, 154: 16, 50-53. Where Are the Wild Things? (n.d.). Culture and Arts: Writers, 1960's. Retrieved March 31, 2010 from http://www.teachervision.fen.com/tv/printables/TCR/ 1576901009_341.pdf.