& 13; & 13; & 13; Photo by FRANCESCO GUAZZELLI& 13; & 13; & 13;
This Jan. 20, 2005, photo released by Syracuse University in Florence, central Italy, shows a moment of the Fantasy Opera in one act of "Where The Wild Things Are." The opera's libretto and original designs are by U.S. illustrator Maurice Sendak. (AP Photo/Francesco Guazzelli, Syracuse University in Florence)
& 13; & 13; & 13; Photo by Thomas Victor& 13; & 13; & 13;
In this June 16, 1981, file photo, author and illustrator Maurice Sendak poses in New York. Sendak, author of the popular children's book "Where the Wild Things Are," died Tuesday in Danbury, Conn. He was 83. (AP Photo/Thomas Victor, file)
Maurice Sendak, whose beautiful yet terrifying children's book illustrations captured the imaginations of children of the 1960s and beyond, died on Tuesday in Danbury, Conn., after complications from a stroke. He was 83.
Children's literature experts hailed him as the most significant children's illustrator of the 20th century.
Locally, many of the Knox County library branches will be doing special displays of Sendak's works in the coming days.
Sendak was perhaps most famous for his 1963 Caldecott Medal-winning book, "Where the Wild Things Are," published by Harper & Row and made into a hit movie in 2009. The story tells of a small boy, Max, who makes such mischief he is sent to bed without his supper.
His imagination takes him to the place where the "wild things" are. The rumpus that ensues has delighted and frightened children for several generations.
In the end, Max returns to his room and quietly finds that his supper is waiting for him. "And it was still hot," Sendak wrote.
The book is a perennial favorite at Knox County Public Library children's rooms, according to Lawson McGhee children's services manager Erin Nguyen.
"He just means so much to children's literature," she said. "I grew up with his work, and kids today continue to be inspired by him and his imagination."
Among the other books Sendak wrote and illustrated, all from Harper & Row, are "In the Night Kitchen" (1970), "Higglety Pigglety Pop!" (1967), "Chicken Soup With Rice" (1991), and his latest, "Bumble-Ardy" (2011).
Sendak was the illustrator for many other writers as well, notably the "Little Bear" books by Else Holmelund Minarik, and "Brundibar," with Tony Kushner (2003), the story of an opera performed during World War II by Jewish children at a concentration camp in what is now the Czech republic.
Sendak, a secular Jew, said he did not believe in an afterlife, in remarks made in September 2011 that aired Tuesday on WUOT's show "Fresh Air." But Sendak also said he was "ready to die," and had been greatly saddened by the death of friends before him, including his partner, Eugene Glynn, who died in 2007, according to the New York Times.
"I am a happy old man but I will cry my way, all the way, to the grave," Sendak said.
According to the New York Times, Sendak's books are sometimes censored for being too dark and frightening for children.
At First Steps Child Development Center in Oak Ridge, Assistant Director Jenessa Kemp said that the school has copies of "Where the Wild Things Are," but it's not something teachers pull out often.
"It can be a little scary for the kids sometimes, the drawings. And parents are so much more concerned about what their children view and read today," Kemp said. "If this wasn't beloved by my generation growing up, it isn't something they would let their children read."
Nevertheless, Kemp said she regularly reads the book to her own daughter, Charlotte, 5.
"She always laughs at Max," she said. "I think it's the fact that the child can be rebellious, but can still be loved. He realizes through his imagination how he needs to treat people. And it's OK to be grumpy."
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