What do you think?
Rate this book
The Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to Present
Maurice Sendak ranks as one of the best known and loved children's book artists in the USA, and has been awarded both the Hans Christian Andersen Medal and the Caldecott Medal. This volume picks up where Selma Lanes' monograph of his work The Art of Maurice Sendak, published in 1980, leaves off, tracing Sendak's life and work from 1980 to 2003. provides an intimate view of the artist. Kushner not only gives a chronological overview of Sendak's work, but also allows us to see him as an accomplished author and artist redefining his legacy, and as a man coming to terms with himself.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
255 people want to read
About the author
Maurice Sendak
202 books2,384 followersMaurice Sendak was a visionary American illustrator and writer best known for transforming the landscape of children's literature through his emotionally resonant stories and distinctive artistic style. He gained international acclaim with Where the Wild Things Are, a groundbreaking picture book that captured the emotional intensity of childhood through its honest portrayal of anger, imagination, and longing. Widely recognized for his ability to blend the whimsical with the profound, Sendak created works that resonated with both children and adults, challenging conventional notions of what children's books could be.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Sendak was a sickly child who spent much of his early life indoors, nurturing a love for books, drawing, and storytelling. The son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, he was deeply affected by the losses of the Holocaust, which shaped the darker emotional undercurrents in his work. His art was influenced by a range of sources, from comic strips and Mickey Mouse to Mozart, Blake, and German Romanticism. Though he began his career illustrating other writers’ books, he soon transitioned to authoring his own, beginning with Kenny’s Window and then The Sign on Rosie’s Door.
It was Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963, that solidified Sendak’s reputation as a master of children’s literature. The book, which won the Caldecott Medal, was initially controversial due to its depiction of unruly behavior and ambiguous emotional tone. However, it was later recognized as a revolutionary work that respected children’s inner lives and psychological complexity. This theme continued in his later works, including In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There, which formed a loose trilogy exploring the emotional and imaginative experiences of childhood. These books, celebrated for their dreamlike narratives and lush illustrations, often tackled fears, fantasies, and the challenges of growing up.
Throughout his career, Sendak illustrated more than a hundred books, working with authors such as Ruth Krauss and Else Holmelund Minarik. His visual style—characterized by its intricate detail, dynamic line work, and expressive characters—evolved over the decades, but always retained an unmistakable emotional intensity. He also designed sets and costumes for operas and ballets, bringing his imaginative worlds to the stage. Notably, he created productions for works by Mozart and Prokofiev, combining his love of classical music with theatrical design.
Sendak was known for his sharp wit, fierce independence, and deep empathy for children. He openly criticized the sanitized and moralistic tone of much of children's publishing, insisting instead that young readers deserved stories that acknowledged their full emotional range, including fear, grief, anger, and wonder. He was also an openly gay man in a long-term relationship, though he only spoke publicly about his sexuality later in life.
Later in his career, Sendak continued to produce new work, collaborate with artists and institutions, and advocate for intellectual freedom. His final books, including Bumble-Ardy and My Brother’s Book, reflected both a return to his childhood memories and a meditation on aging, love, and mortality. Though his stories often ventured into the dark or surreal, they remained rooted in a deep respect for the emotional reality of children and a belief in the power of imagination to confront life's challenges.
Maurice Sendak’s legacy endures in the countless writers and illustrators he inspired, the cultural impact of his stories, and the enduring affection readers of all ages hold for his wild things, mischievous children, and tender monsters. Through his work, he redefined what children’s literature could be: rich, honest, haunting, and, above all, deeply human.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Sendak was a sickly child who spent much of his early life indoors, nurturing a love for books, drawing, and storytelling. The son of Polish-Jewish immigrants, he was deeply affected by the losses of the Holocaust, which shaped the darker emotional undercurrents in his work. His art was influenced by a range of sources, from comic strips and Mickey Mouse to Mozart, Blake, and German Romanticism. Though he began his career illustrating other writers’ books, he soon transitioned to authoring his own, beginning with Kenny’s Window and then The Sign on Rosie’s Door.
It was Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963, that solidified Sendak’s reputation as a master of children’s literature. The book, which won the Caldecott Medal, was initially controversial due to its depiction of unruly behavior and ambiguous emotional tone. However, it was later recognized as a revolutionary work that respected children’s inner lives and psychological complexity. This theme continued in his later works, including In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There, which formed a loose trilogy exploring the emotional and imaginative experiences of childhood. These books, celebrated for their dreamlike narratives and lush illustrations, often tackled fears, fantasies, and the challenges of growing up.
Throughout his career, Sendak illustrated more than a hundred books, working with authors such as Ruth Krauss and Else Holmelund Minarik. His visual style—characterized by its intricate detail, dynamic line work, and expressive characters—evolved over the decades, but always retained an unmistakable emotional intensity. He also designed sets and costumes for operas and ballets, bringing his imaginative worlds to the stage. Notably, he created productions for works by Mozart and Prokofiev, combining his love of classical music with theatrical design.
Sendak was known for his sharp wit, fierce independence, and deep empathy for children. He openly criticized the sanitized and moralistic tone of much of children's publishing, insisting instead that young readers deserved stories that acknowledged their full emotional range, including fear, grief, anger, and wonder. He was also an openly gay man in a long-term relationship, though he only spoke publicly about his sexuality later in life.
Later in his career, Sendak continued to produce new work, collaborate with artists and institutions, and advocate for intellectual freedom. His final books, including Bumble-Ardy and My Brother’s Book, reflected both a return to his childhood memories and a meditation on aging, love, and mortality. Though his stories often ventured into the dark or surreal, they remained rooted in a deep respect for the emotional reality of children and a belief in the power of imagination to confront life's challenges.
Maurice Sendak’s legacy endures in the countless writers and illustrators he inspired, the cultural impact of his stories, and the enduring affection readers of all ages hold for his wild things, mischievous children, and tender monsters. Through his work, he redefined what children’s literature could be: rich, honest, haunting, and, above all, deeply human.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 13, 2017
Tracing Maurice Sendak's life and work from 1980 to the present, this illustrated volume is filled with projects in various mediums, both inside and outside the children's book arena. Reproduced here are lavish set and costume designs for a number of theatrical and dance productions, from The Nutcracker to The Magic Flute to The Love for Three Oranges. Also represented is artwork for numerous posters, CD covers, book jackets, and adult books, as well as children's picture books. Profusely illustrated, this book introduces Sendak's recent work, particularly in the theater, to a wider audience and pays tribute to his genius.
Playwright Tony Kushner, a longtime friend, and more recently, a collaborator with the artist, chronicles Sendak's work and provides new insights into his unique past. Using Sendak's journals, personal interviews, and a wealth of shared anecdotal experience, Kushner paints a singular portrait of a man with burning passion, acute sympathy, and a hunger for beauty. Readers are offered an intimate view into Sendak's personal and professional frustrations, as well as his triumphs.
https://books.google.com/books/about/...
Playwright Tony Kushner, a longtime friend, and more recently, a collaborator with the artist, chronicles Sendak's work and provides new insights into his unique past. Using Sendak's journals, personal interviews, and a wealth of shared anecdotal experience, Kushner paints a singular portrait of a man with burning passion, acute sympathy, and a hunger for beauty. Readers are offered an intimate view into Sendak's personal and professional frustrations, as well as his triumphs.
https://books.google.com/books/about/...
May 13, 2025
I skimmed the text but spent a good deal of time with the pictures. Sendak's art is fascinating. What a life, too!
May 14, 2012
http://culapp.wordpress.com/2012/05/1...
I didn’t fully appreciate him until becoming an adult, perhaps proving his argument that he wasn’t the children’s author that people always thought. Like lots of people, i was raised on “Where the Wild Things Are” and used the term “wild rumpus” as often as possible but never took the effort to search out his other works. Not until a few years ago did i discover this wonderful book about him, written by none other than Tony Kushner (author of the play Angels in America, which was turned into the most beautiful miniseries of all time).
It opened my eyes to not only his sexuality, which did slightly blow my mind, but also his diverse body of work. On top of illustrating and writing his own books, he was also an illustrator for hire, a set-designer and costumer. Now, i have always loved everything about the Nutcracker. I never saw the ballet as a youngster, but the music and the story always thrilled me. After seeing the costumes and design work he did for a touring performance of it in 1983, my whole concept of what that show could look like was thrown out the window and replace with Sendak’s image of a giant, grimacing, horrifying and powerful Nutcracker visage.
The depth he brought to work typically aimed at children is what makes him such a lasting figure. Like Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin & Hobbes), Michael Ende (author of The Neverending Story), Lewis Carroll and the poet William Blake, he discussed very heavy ideas about life, death, eternity, politics and the plasticity of reality in ways that were accessible to young people and at the same time challenging to older people; feeding young people ideas others might try to protect them from while simultaneously reminding adults about the wonders some of us have grown away from.
I didn’t fully appreciate him until becoming an adult, perhaps proving his argument that he wasn’t the children’s author that people always thought. Like lots of people, i was raised on “Where the Wild Things Are” and used the term “wild rumpus” as often as possible but never took the effort to search out his other works. Not until a few years ago did i discover this wonderful book about him, written by none other than Tony Kushner (author of the play Angels in America, which was turned into the most beautiful miniseries of all time).
It opened my eyes to not only his sexuality, which did slightly blow my mind, but also his diverse body of work. On top of illustrating and writing his own books, he was also an illustrator for hire, a set-designer and costumer. Now, i have always loved everything about the Nutcracker. I never saw the ballet as a youngster, but the music and the story always thrilled me. After seeing the costumes and design work he did for a touring performance of it in 1983, my whole concept of what that show could look like was thrown out the window and replace with Sendak’s image of a giant, grimacing, horrifying and powerful Nutcracker visage.
The depth he brought to work typically aimed at children is what makes him such a lasting figure. Like Bill Watterson (creator of Calvin & Hobbes), Michael Ende (author of The Neverending Story), Lewis Carroll and the poet William Blake, he discussed very heavy ideas about life, death, eternity, politics and the plasticity of reality in ways that were accessible to young people and at the same time challenging to older people; feeding young people ideas others might try to protect them from while simultaneously reminding adults about the wonders some of us have grown away from.
September 24, 2016
This book starts out with an apology from the author for subbing a playwrite for a proper academic author, but I didn’t take them too seriously since I figured that anyone with a passion for Maurice Sendak’s work would write a decent book. Unfortunately, that was not the case at all, and I found myself so frustrated with the random tangents that the author went off on that I stopped reading entirely and just focused on the artwork. Even more unfortunate is that the artwork portrayed in this book doesn’t really do Sendak justice, or even present much of a range… It’s really too bad, since this book was supposed to act as a companion volume for Selma Lanes’ book (which chronicles Sendak’s early career), but falls far short of her concise and informative prose and the well-presented page design.
May 15, 2014
This book is an extremely interesting read for fans of Maurice Sendak.
While the writing isn't a phenomenal masterpiece, the overall collection of Sendak's art truly is.
The photographs are brilliant and really let you see a side of Sendak that frankly I didn't know existed before now.
While the writing isn't a phenomenal masterpiece, the overall collection of Sendak's art truly is.
The photographs are brilliant and really let you see a side of Sendak that frankly I didn't know existed before now.
October 5, 2011
I would give this a five for the information and illustrations, but I don't like it much when an author wastes 90% of their book pontificating.
April 16, 2013
Lots of Sendak art reproductions and texts describing them, their production and their reasons for being. A beautiful book. 4/15/2013
July 4, 2013
beautiful collection of sendak's work, presented by tony kushner. rare glimpse of sendak's journal entries and opera set/costume designs. really great.
August 4, 2016
Стара косабака і помирає мама- намалюй історію, кризис в житті- намалюй історію! знайшов і відфоткав дівчинку, яка би пасувала героїнею книги
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews