Maurice Bernard

 

Maurice Bernard Sendak (/ˈsɛndæk/; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. He became most widely known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, first published in 1963. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was affected by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak also wrote works such as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and illustrated many works by other authors including the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik.

Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Polish Jewish immigrants Sadie (née Schindler) and Philip Sendak, a dressmaker. Sendak described his childhood as a "terrible situation" due to the death of members of his extended family during the Holocaust which introduced him at a young age to the concept of mortality. His love of books began when, as a child, he developed health issues and was confined to his bed. When he was 12 years old, he decided to become an illustrator after watching Walt Disney's film Fantasia. One of his first professional commissions was to create window displays for the FAO Schwarz toy store. His illustrations were first published in 1947 in a textbook titled Atomics for the Millions by Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff. He spent much of the 1950s illustrating children's books written by others before beginning to write his own stories.

His older brother Jack Sendak also became an author of children's books, two of which were illustrated by Maurice in the 1950s.

Maurice was the youngest of three siblings. When he was born, his sister Natalie was 9 years old and his brother Jack was 5.