Saturday, December 19, 2009

Where the Wild Things Are

Besides finishing Cleaving today, I’ve also read Making Mischief: A Maurice Sendak Appreciation by Gregory Maguire. Sendak is the author and illustrator of my favorite children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are, and the author and illustrator of many more books published in the last 50 or so years.

Maguire, author of Wicked, recently published this book to honor Sendak and his contributions to children’s literature in the past several decades. (Side note: Did anyone else try to read Wicked and have to put it down? I almost never do that, but I just couldn’t make it through. Should I give Wicked another try?). Maguire’s book comes out of a lecture he gave to the American Library Association to honor Sendak. I have always loved Where the Wild Things Are, but this book helped me see all the other books Sendak has worked on too.

To learn more about Sendak, check out:

Caldecott and Company by Maurice Sendak (essays)
The Art of Maurice Sendak by Selma Lane
The Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to Present by Tony Kushner
Angels and Wild Things by John Cech
Article from the New York Times
Article on PBS’s web site

And just for fun, here is a picture of my Where the Wild Things Are Christmas ornament, on one of my trees at home.



Happy holidays!

1 comment:

  1. I suggest trying to read Wicked again. The beginning of the book, until she goes off to school, was a struggle to get through for me. From that point on, the rest of the book was enjoyable. It is not on my favorite ever list, but it was a good read. If you have trouble with it again, perhaps it was not meant to be!

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