“so that it isn't upsetting to anybody. It's something we've always known about fairy tales – they talk about incest, the Oedipus complex, about psychotic mothers, like those of Snow White and Hansel and Gretel, who throw their children out.… — Maurice Sendak Copy Share Image
'Hansel and Gretel' is one of the scariest stories ever written! Psychotic mother; stupid, inane father. — Maurice Sendak Copy Share Image
I never thought of Bumble-Ardy in that way. But I still have that same deep feeling for children who are in dire trouble. I see Bumble-Ardy as a lonely, unhappy kid who is doing the very best he can to be in the world, to have a party. — Maurice Sendak Copy Share
I was a very sickly child. My parents were immigrants. They were not decorous. They were not discreet. They always thought I was gonna… — Maurice Sendak Copy Share Image
The fan mail I get from kids are asking me questions which they do not ask their mothers and fathers. Because if they had,… — Maurice Sendak Copy Share Image
“May I ask what you have in your black leather bag with gold buckles?" "Everything." They were climbing a narrow staircase. Rhoda stopped to… — Maurice Sendak Copy Share Image
Illustrations have as much to say as the text. The trick is to say the same thing, but in a different way. It's no good being an illustrator who is saying a lot that is on his or her mind, if it has nothing to do with the text. . . the artist must override the story, but he must… — Maurice Sendak Copy Share
I've convinced myself - I hope I'm right - that children despair of you if you don't tell them the truth. — Maurice Sendak Copy Share Image
