Maurice Sendak 1928-2012

Maurice Sendak was a true visionary, mildly subversive, and literary magician in the world of children’s books. Sendak’s work celebrates and encourages imagination. His realm was picture books, but as evidenced by the popularity of his darker, dramatic stories and illustrations, he was certainly no ordinary picture book author.

I write about books a lot. You may wonder why an environmentally focused writer would spend so much time on children’s books. Books create a thinking population. Children who can think critically are going to go out into the world and make it a better place.

Sendak’s enduring body of work will live on through the children it was meant for (honestly, go back and read some of his stories as an adult and you will have a widely different perspective). I hope these books live on through my own children.

Thank you for everything, Mr. Sendak.

Top 7 Children’s Books by Maurice Sendak

“And now,” cried Max, “let the wild rumpus start!”

“She climbed backwards out her window into outside over there.”

“Bumble-ardy had no party when he turned one. (His immediate family frowned on fun.)”

“Did you ever hear of Mickey, how he heard a racket in the night?”

“Each month is gay,
each season nice,
when eating
chicken soup
with rice.”

“What would you like to eat?”
“I don’t care!”
“Some lovely cream of wheat?”
“I don’t care!”
Don’t sit backwards on your chair.”
“I don’t care!”
“Or pour syrup on your hair.”
“I don’t care!”

“Alligators All Around, Bursting Balloons, Catching Colds.”

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Read with a child’s eye, read with wonder, just read.

Do you have a favorite Maurice Sendak story and is it different from when you were a child?

**There are affiliate links to make it easier for you to find these books to add to your bookshelf, but I encourage you to seek them out at your local library as well.