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Portrait of Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak

(1928–2012) Picture Book Writer United States

262 quotes in 991 categories

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Maurice Sendak was a picture book writer from the United States, best known for Where the Wild Things Are.

Quick Facts About Maurice Sendak

Born: June 10, 1928
Died: May 8, 2012
Nationality: United States
Profession: Picture Book Writer
Notable works: Where the Wild Things Are
Known for: Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen

About Maurice Sendak

Maurice Bernard Sendak was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak illustrated his own books as well as those by other authors, such as the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik. He achieved acclaim with Where the Wild Things Are (1963), the first of a trilogy followed by In the Night Kitchen (1970) and Outside Over There (1981). He also designed sets for operas, notably Mozart's The Magic Flute.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Awards & Honors

Children's Literature Legacy Award Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award National Book Award Caldecott Medal National Medal of Arts Library of Congress Living Legend Hans Christian Andersen Award for illustration Q59783532

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Q137392788

Quotes by Maurice Sendak · Page 7

All I wanted was to be straight so my parents could be happy. They never, never, never knew.

Be happy

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I don't write for children. I write and someone says it's for children.

Children

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My life in Brooklyn was in constant danger because of my bad health.

Bad

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As a kid, all I thought about was death. But you can't tell your parents that.

Death

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I don't write for children. I write, and somebody says, 'That's for children.'

Children

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I had been reading a fabulous book [The Man Verdi, by Frank Walker] about [Giuseppe] Verdi, whom I adore.

Adore

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I'm still as enamored and turned on by work as I was when I was young.

Enamored

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I want to write something so simple, so short and so silly... and I want it to be for my brother.

Brother

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When Mozart is playing in my room, I am in conjunction with something I can't explain... I don't need to. I know…

Conjunctions

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I never thought of Bumble-Ardy in that way. But I still have that same deep feeling for children who are in dire…

Children

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My big concern is me and what do I do now until the time of my death. That is valid. That is…

Beautiful

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Peter Rabbit, for all its gentle tininess, loudly proclaims that no story is worth the writing, no picture worth the making, if…

Gentle

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“I have nothing now but praise for my life. I'm not unhappy. I cry a lot because I miss people. They die…

Age

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There are certain pieces of music that are always attached to certain books.

Always

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Do parents sit down and tell their kids everything? I don't know. I don't know.

Down

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“But the wild things cried, “Oh please don't go- We'll eat you up- we love you so!”

Cried

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There are so many beautiful things in the world which I will have to leave when I die, but I'm ready, I'm…

Beautiful

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I really don't like the city anymore. You get pushed and harassed and people grope you. It's too tumultuous. It's too crazy.

Cities

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What I do as best I can is out of a deep respect for children, for how difficult their world is.

Best

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When you hide another story in a story, that’s the story I am telling the children.

Children

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Mothers and children are human beings, and they will sometimes do the wrong thing.

Children

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There's a mystery there, a clue, a nut, a bolt, and if I put it together, I find me.

Bolts

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Maurice Sendak by topic

Children (75) Life (31) Kids (28) Parenting (27) Books (27) Book (25) Writer (21) Childhood (21) Want (20) Child (19) Ifs (17) Writing (16) Wild things (16) Thinking (16) Love (16) Artist (15) World (14) Way (14) People (14) Inspirational (14) Believe (14) Art (14) Parents (13) Parent (12) Knows (12)