There aren’t many children’s books that have the timeless, generation-bridging appeal of Maurice Sendak‘s classic bedtime fairytale, Where the Wild Things Are. It’s almost hard to believe it was first published back in 1963 simply because the vivid world created through his distinctive illustrations and the story’s simultaneously utopian and nightmarish messages of escape and adventure have managed to defy the wear of aging and the passage of time.
Maurice Sendak died on Tuesday at 83 years old, but his perfectly imperfect heroes, extraordinary artwork and fearless exploration into the darker parts of the child’s imagination will hang around for a long time yet.
Good luck on your own ‘wild rumpus’ Mr Sendak. R.I.P.
“That very night in Max’s room a forest grew and grew… and grew until his ceiling hung with vines and the walls became the world all around and an ocean tumbled by with a private boat for Max… and he sailed off through night and day, and in and out of weeks, and almost over a year, to where the wild things are.” – Where The Wild Things Are
If you have a memory of any of his books that you’d like to share just hit the comment section.
