The Death of A Wild Thing

Today I want to make a post in honor of one of our favorite authors. Maurice Sendak has died today at 83.

What a joy to have been a child listening to my mother read his books and now be a mother reading them to my children. And not just his books but all the ones he illustrated too.

One of our all time favorite illustrated Sendak books is Little Bear, by Elise Holmeund Minarik. Reading those sweet stories about Little Bear and loving them not just because of the words, but because of how sweet he looks in each picture. The images of Mother Bear holding Little Bear or Father Bear looking at Little Bear are so tender and wonderful.  Owen has been obsessed with Lions and so Pierre: a cautionary tale has been read over and over, along with Chicken Soup with Rice which is almost memorized and the pages keep falling out. No one can forget all the adventures of Rosie, or the funny little people learning all sorts of definitions in A Hole Is To Dig.  And while we love and adore and really only know Sendak from his books, he was much more of an artist than just in the world of children's books. NPR has a great story that I encourage you to read here.  What a joy to have been a part of receiving his works. Thank you Maurice for valuing childhood and sharing your imagination with my kids and all kids.

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