By Axel Henderson
Maurice Sendak wrote and illustrated Where the Wild Things Are in 1963. Today, the children’s book has sold around 20 million copies worldwide and won numerous awards. Sendak’s work centers around children’s early development and transformations, often depicting fantastic creatures and ideas. The darker themes and color schemes are different from the bright and happy children’s books of the time.
Maria Tatar, acclaimed fairy tale scholar, even believes that some of Sendak’s work is inappropriate for children. Sendak wanted to write about a real child who makes mistakes, not an idealized image of youth and innocence. Sendak famously said, “I find children on the whole more direct and honest, but being a child doesn’t automatically make you superior. Although usually it does.”
Maurice Sendak is the son of poor Polish-Jewish immigrants, and he grew up in Brooklyn, New York. The term “Wild Things” comes from the yiddish phrase, “Vilde Chayea,” supposedly what Maurice’s mother called him.
Sendak, Maurice. Where the Wild Things Are Harper & Row: 1984, c1963 Howard-Tilton Amoss Collection PZ7.S47 Wh 1984