Maurice Sendak, the US author of the best-selling children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, has died aged 83.
He wrote some 17 books and was a prolific illustrator, but was best-known for his 1963 tale of Max, who became the “king of all wild things”.
It was made into a Hollywood film in 2009, directed by Spike Jonze.
The book, which became a children’s classic in the US and sold more than 19 million copies worldwide, told the story of a boy who goes on a journey through his own imagination after he is sent to bed without supper.
Considered controversial for its images when it was first published – which some claimed to have scared children – the book went on to earn Sendak a prestigious Caldecott Medal for best children’s book in 1964.
Born in 1928 and raised in Brooklyn by Jewish-Polish immigrant parents, Sendak said his own life had been clouded by the Holocaust and that the events of World War II were the root of his raw and honest artistic style.
Other titles written and illustrated by the author include In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, Higglety Pigglety Pop! and The Nutshell Library.
His last picture book Bumble-Ardy was published in 2011. It tells the story of an orphaned pig who gives himself a riotous birthday party.
The author won a number of awards for his work, including the Hans Christian Andersen medal for illustration in 1970 and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association in 1983.
As well as writing, Sendak created costumes for ballets and staged operas, including the Czech opera Brundibar. He designed the Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Nutcracker production that went on to become a TV film.
In 2009 and 2012 US President Barack Obama read Where The Wild Things Are at the White House Easter Egg Roll.
Personally I read Wild Things to my son who loved it and wanted it ready every night!
here’s the trailer to the movie.
