Farewell Maurice Sendak my old friend...

I was heartbroken to hear about the passing of Maurice Sendak on the same day that I was made Laureate. Maurice Sendak has alway been my picture book hero from when I was little and his books have been my constant inspiration and friends over the years. To me he was the most original book maker of the 20th century. 
I LOVED his characters and I truly believed in them. His characters are REAL they are headstrong, bossy, sometimes even obnoxious! His books were groundbreaking in the sixties because they were a departure from the normal safe sweet picture books. Children love them because they depict something they recoginise- being sent to bed without supper and true emotional battles. Sendak sometimes brought the reader to dark places, was unsentimental and he never NEVER underestimated his audience.

Maurice made me love books and I try to share that love in any way I can everyday. He was my biggest influence as a picture book maker and artist.  I make books about Hugglemonsters, Ravenous Beasts; my own 'Wild Things.' He inspired me to never underestimate my audience, to never patronise or speak down to children but also to have fun, to spread a little anarchy with my words and pictures. 

My favourite Sendak Quote is when he talked about when a little boy sent him a letter- 

‘Oh, there’s so many. Can I give you just one that I really like? It was from a little boy. He sent me a charming card with a little drawing. I loved it. I answer all my children's letters — sometimes very hastily — but this one I lingered over. I sent him a postcard and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, "Dear Jim: I loved your card." Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, "Jim loved your card so much he ate it." That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever received. He didn't care that it was an original drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it.’

I highly recommend Terry Gross's collected interviews with Sendak on NPR  Her interviews with Sendak over the years show his passion and give wonderful insight into Sendak as an artist and as a unique human being. The last interview moved me to tears. 

Sendak Mural unveiled...

Imagine having a Maurice Sendak mural to sleep under!

50 years ago and two years before he wrote and illustrated 'Where the Wild Things Are,' Sendak painted a mural in Nina and Larry Chertoff's bedroom, in their apartment in New York. They have lovely memories from when Sendak came to paint the mural, they were only 6 and 4, “Maurice was sensitive to the quality of light in the room.”

Nina and Larry donated this 2 ton piece of plaster to the Philadelphia's Rosenbach Museum and Library. In 2008 it was moved from Manhattan to a conservation studio and then to the museum. It was unveiled on Wednesday.

Go have a listen to Nina, Larry and Maurice talking about their fond memories of when it was painted over on NPR. There is a wonderful slide show of the restoration here on the Rosenbach site.

Sendak speaks of it being “a happy time of my life.” He had never or has never since tackled a mural,“ There was no one from the renaissance around that could advise me.” he says.

More about the story on The History Blog.

Wild Things

USA Today has new Where the Wild Things Are production stills. I love Maurice Sendak and this book holds a really special place in my heart. It will be release in October in US. Large image is the official poster.