10 June 1928: Maurice Sendak is born

Maurice Sendak was born on 10 June 1928, in Brooklyn, New York, into a Jewish immigrant family from Poland. He was the youngest of three siblings.

His early years were influenced by his extended family, who shared stories from their Eastern European heritage, fostering his love for storytelling and imagination. This exposure to the power of storytelling ignited his passion for the world of imagination and creativity.

Sendak’s childhood was not without challenges. He did not enjoy good health which confined him to home, and his vision of the outside world was limited to his window. The time he spent in isolation fuelled his imagination and inspired his interest in illustration and reading.

A largely self-taught artist, Sendak illustrated over 150 books during his sixty-year career, but he became most widely known for Where the Wild Things Are, which was first published in 1963. Sendak wrote other books, such as In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There. His books were known for their vivid and sometimes dark themes, tackling complex emotions and fears that children often experience.

Sendak’s unique blend of art and storytelling led him to become one of the most celebrated children’s book authors and illustrators of all time, and he was recognized with numerous awards, including the 1964 Caldecott Medal, the 1970 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 1983 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the 2003 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. In 1996 President Bill Clinton presented him with the National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America.