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Maurice Sendak has spent the past fifty years bringing an extraordinary world of fantasy and imagination to life. His landmark work WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE established him as a visionary figure in children's literature and made an indelible imprint on children and adults, selling more than two
million copies. But what are the artistic motivations driving Sendak, who says: "I never set out to write books for children"? Bill Moyers gives viewers a look into the private world of Maurice Sendak in an unexpectedly candid interview that reveals the surprisingly dark influences at play in his
complex work. Shaped by immigrant parents and the tragedy of the Holocaust, Sendak provides frank insight into his complicated psyche and a rare window into the soul of an acclaimed artist.
 Part I
Part II
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Maurice Sendak |
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The winner of the 1964 Caldecott Medal for WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, and the only American illustrator to win the international Hans Christian Andersen Award (in 1970, for his body of work), Maurice Sendak is a visionary figure in children's literature. Having begun by illustrating the works of others — eventually including Else Holmelund Minarik, Randall Jarrell, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and the Brothers Grimm — by 1956, with KENNY'S WINDOW, he had begun to create his own texts as well as illustrations. Also a distinguished set and costume designer for opera and ballet, he has designed productions of Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE, Janácek's THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN, Prokofiev's THE LOVE FOR THREE ORANGES, Ravel's L'ENFANT ET LES SORTILÈGES and L'HEURE ESPAGNOLE, Tchaikovsky's THE NUTCRACKER, and Oliver Knussen's operas based on his WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP! In 1983 Mr. Sendak received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, given in recognition of his entire body of work; in 1996 he received a National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America; and this year he received the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an annual, international prize for children's literature established by the Swedish government.
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Special thanks for permission to reproduce images: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE: Copyright © 1963 by Maurice Sendak
Harper Collins Publishers
BRUNDIBAR, text copyright © by Tony Kushner, pictures copyright © by Maurice Sendak, published by Michael di Capua Books / Hyperion Books for Children
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