Maurice Sendak, author of the famous Where the Wild Things Are, died yesterday at the age of 83. He was one of those creators of children’s literature that librarians feel particularly possessive of, one of our last living “national treasures” like Eric Carle, Beverly Cleary, or Ed Emberley. Still making incredible works of art that tap into the heart of childhood, the perspective of children, that magic, at an age when most have long forgotten what it is to be childlike. He did not shy away from dark themes for children, which certainly stemmed from his own childhood experience as a Jewish kid from Brooklyn who lost several family members in the war and had severe health problems. It always made him controversial, but for anyone who has ever read one of his books to a child or as a child you know that he got to the bones of those great big feelings–which most adults try to shield from children. Sendak knew that this does children a great disservice, denying that they can feel darkly or understand deeply.
Archive: May 9, 2012