Maurice Sendak, one of the most influential children’s artists
of the 20th century, sadly has passed away at the age of 83
after a short illness. His most famous work, Where the Wild
Things Are was published in 1963, and inspired an animated short
directed by Gene Deitch. Many of his books were turned into TV
and feature projects over the years. Born in Brooklyn, to
Polish-Jewish immigrant parents, Sendak was exposed to death and
mortality at an early age because of The Holocaust. After
watching Walt Disney's Fantasia at the age of 12, he decided to
become an illustrator, and the first of his efforts was
published in 1947, after which he spent much of the 1950s
illustrating children's books written by others, before
beginning to write his own stories. He gained international
acclaim after writing and illustrating Where the Wild Things
Are. The book's depictions of fanged monsters concerned some
parents when it was first published, as his characters were
somewhat grotesque in appearance, and In the Night Kitch