Creator of Max and his wild rumpus of monsters, Maurice Sendak, has died at the age of 83.
The author of 17 books and illustrator of 80 more, was best known for his masterpiece Where The Wild Things Are. The book became a favourite in households all over the world, selling more than 19 million copies, despite only containing 10 lines of text.
The story of Max, who gets sent to bed without his supper when he’s naughty and instead sets sail into an imaginary land of wild beasts, was published in 1963, and quickly caught the imagination of children and parents alike.
The book was turned into a movie, directed by Spike Jonze, in 2009, but caused a stir when many parents felt it was too scary for their children.
Maurice talked openly about his difficult childhood, growing up in a struggling Jewish family in the 1930s in Brooklyn. He described how his father’s family were “destroyed” in the Holocaust.
As well as creating one of MadeForMums' favourite books, Maurice drew intricate illustrations for Else Holmelund Minarik's character Little Bear, one of my favourite stories from my childhood.
An inspiration for children, Maurice once recalled how he received a card from a child with a drawing of a Wild Thing. Maurice replied, saying, “Dear Jim, I love your card.” Maurice then received a card from the child’s mum, who wrote “Jim loved your card so much, he ate it.” Maurice felt this was one of the highest compliments he had ever been paid, exclaiming, “He didn’t care that it was an original drawing. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it."
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