The “Who Wrote That?” series by Chelsea House offers biographies of well-known authors of children’s literature. This entry in the series profiles Maurice Sendak, best known as the author/illustrator of Caldecott Medal winner, Where the Wild Things Are.
Sendak’s work has been both groundbreaking and controversial, and the biographer does not shy away from dealing with these issues. Indeed, an entire chapter is devoted to the censorship battles over In the Night Kitchen, a book that includes illustrations of a naked child.
The text is straightforward and thorough in its description of Sendak’s career, if somewhat dry. Sidebars and relevant (if uninteresting) photographs break up the text. The book’s greatest drawback is that it includes NONE of Sendak’s own illustrations, even in chapters where that artwork is being discussed. However, this was probably due to copyright restrictions and as such, cannot be held against the publisher.
Jewish content is evidenced by acknowledgement that Sendak’s parents were “Jews from Poland,” and by a chapter called “Sendak’s Holocaust Stories,” in which we learn about Brundibar and some other more subtle Holocaust themes woven into Dear Mili and implied in In the Night Kitchen.
While the book is unlikely to be read for pleasure, it will be useful for reports and for beefing up the biography section in Judaic collections. A timeline and several other useful lists and indexes are included at the back of the book. Purchase where there is a need for biographies or for children’s literature studies. For ages 12 and up.
