Charlotte Jewish News June 2022

Charlotte Jewish News, June/July 2022

By Debby Block

June 10th is the birthdate of the incomparable Maurice Sendak, author of one of the most popular children’s book of all times, “Where the Wild Things Are.” Published in 1963, Sendak’s iconic children’s book pushed the envelope by including illustrations of creatures that were, at the time, deemed too grotesque and too scary for children. Today, we understand that Sendak’s characters are the stuff of children’s dreams and that giving those dreams life helps children deal with and understand their own fears and frustrations. Sendak is quoted as saying: “Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety, and, to a point, we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences. That is obvious. But what is just as obvious, and what is too often overlooked, is the fact that from their earliest years, children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions. Fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives; they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.” Maurice Sendak is unquestionably one of my best-loved authors. I clearly remember the first book fair that I visited in elementary school. The very first set of books I ever purchased for myself was the “Nutshell Library” by Maurice Sendak, which included miniature copies of “Alligators All Around,” “Chicken Soup with Rice,” “One Was Johnny,” and “Pierre.” I still have these books and I still treasure them! Because I was a shy child and frequently afraid

to assert my true opinion, my favorite book of this set was “Pierre,” the story of a boy who always said “I don’t care.” Happily, my grandchildren love these books as much as I did. While the timeless content of these books is delightful, there is truly something to be said about the size of the books as well. Tip to parents: Little hands love to hold little books! I recommend the “Nutshell Library” for children 2 to 6 years old.

Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1938. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Poland. His childhood was dark and self-described as a “terrible situation” because of the deaths of many extended family members in the Holocaust. No doubt there are echoes of this dark childhood through many of the books that he authors including “Outside Over There,” in which goblins steal a baby from its home or Sendak’s collaboration with Tony Kushner on the retelling of the Holocaust opera in “Brundibar.” Although these are wonderful pieces of literature, I do not recommend them for children under six years old.

A largely self-taught artist, Maurice Sendak illustrated more than 150 books during his 60 year career. Indeed, Sendak’s illustrations delighted me as a child and influenced my early love of literature. Sendak illustrated many of my best-loved childhood books, including “A Hole is to Dig” by Ruth Krauss, “Little Bear” by Else Homelund Minarik, “Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present” by Charlotte Zolotow, as well as “Zlateh the Goat” by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

Maurice Sendak