Maurice Sendak Biography and Timeline

Biography: 

Maurice Sendak has illustrated more than a hundred picture books throughout his 60-year career.  Some of his best known books include Chicken Soup with Rice, Where the Wild Things Are, and In the Night Kitchen.  Born in Brooklyn in 1928 to Jewish immigrant parents from northern Poland, Sendak grew up idolizing the storytelling abilities of his father, Philip, and his big brother, Jack—as a child he illustrated his first stories on shirt cardboard provided by his tailor-father.  Aside from a few night classes in art after graduating high school, Sendak is a largely self-taught artist.  Throughout his career, he has taken characters, stories, and inspirations from his among his own neighbors, family, pop culture, historical sources, and long-held childhood memories.  Sendak began a second career as a costume and stage designer in the late 1970s, designing operas by Mozart, Prokofiev, Ravel, and Tchaikovsky, among others.  He has won numerous awards as both an artist and illustrator, including a Caldecott Award, a Newberry Medal, the international Hans Christian Andersen Award, a National Book Award, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and a National Medal of Arts.   His books continue to be read by millions of children and adults and have been translated into dozens of languages and enjoyed all over the world. 

Timeline:

 June 10, 1928—Born in Brooklyn, NY

1932—Charles Lindbergh, Jr. kidnapped and ensuing media frenzy becomes a formative memory for the young Sendak

1939—Attends the New York World’s Fair

1941—Family receives news that Philip Sendak’s village in Poland is destroyed by Nazis and most of his family are killed or taken to concentration camps

1947—Completes first book illustrations for Atomics for the Millions

1951—Illustrates first children’s book, The Wonderful Farm by Marcel Aymé

1956—Publishes Kenny’s Window, the first book he both wrote and illustrated

1963—Publishes Where the Wild Things Are

1964—Wins Caldecott Medal for Wild Things

1966—First visit to the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia, and the beginning of relationship with the museum

1967—Suffers a heart attack in England; beloved dog, Jennie, dies

1968—Mother, Sarah, dies of cancer; begins depositing picture book art and working materials at the Rosenbach

1970—Wins international Hans Christian Andersen Award; Father, Philip, dies

1971—Publishes In the Night Kitchen

1972—Moves from New York to Connecticut

1979—Writes and designs first opera, Where the Wild Things Are; creates designs for various opera productions throughout 1980s and ‘90s

1980—Publication of major biography by Selma Lanes, The Art of Maurice Sendak (Abrams)

1981—Publishes Outside Over There

1995—Illustrates Herman Melville’s Pierre, or, The Ambiguities

1996—Receives the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton

2003—Publishes Brundibar book and designs opera production; awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award; friend Tony Kushner publishes The Art of Maurice Sendak: 1980 to the Present (Abrams)

2007—Death of Dr. Eugene Glynn, Sendak’s partner of more than 50 years

2009—Release of Spike Jonze film adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are

2010— Still working!