At our new home here in Granada, there is a nice little...

At our new home here in Granada, there is a nice little collection of books, including this one, “Dear Mili”, an old Grimm fairytale discovered in the 1980s and subsequently illustrated by Sendak. I’m embarrassed to say that I had not heard of this book before, nor seen it, but let me tell you - it is breathtaking, brave, and tender. What strikes me, perhaps, most deeply is how the intensity of both the story and illustrations (Sendak expands upon the story’s themes of death, war, and god with powerful allusions to the Holocaust) does not frighten my four year old daughter. In fact, at the story’s close, when the little girl dies alongside her mother, my own daughter seems to be ready to sink into a calm sleep as she cuddles in more than usual. We’re moved by the tale in a way that transcends normal bedtime fair. There’s something in the utter authenticity of Sendak’s drawings that make this tough material not only palatable but joyous and warm. No wonder that the man effected so many. Sadly, I imagine that this type of content would not get published today.