Maurice Sendak

by Hal Marcovitz, Kyle Zimmer (Foreword by)

Born in 1928, Maurice Sendak was a sickly child who passed the time by sketching the children who were able to play in the street below his window. Sendak excelled in art during high school and found a job decorating store windows. When a book editor discovered his talent, Sendak's skill was much in demand as a storybook illustrator. Once he started writing books as well as illustrating them, Sendak's stories allowed children to experience places and journeys not often found in other books, including a magic land in Where the Wild Things Are , In the Night Kitchen 's noisy adventure, and a land in Outside Over There where a young girl must save her baby sister from goblins. Today, Sendak continues to write and illustrate stories, and he finds ways to introduce socially important themes to young readers. In a one-volume reference, Maurice Sendak details the life and real-life influences of this famous author, revealing the person behind the words, and the author behind the literature we love.

136 pages, Library Binding

First published May 31, 2006

About the author

Hal Marcovitz has been making his living as a writer for more than a quarter-century. He has worked as a reporter and columnist for several daily newspapers, and can now be found reporting for The Morning Call of Allentown, PA, where he covers government and politics in the Bucks County Courthouse in suburban Philadelphia.

Hal is also the author of more than 50 nonfiction books for young readers. He has written biographies of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, civil rights leader Al Sharpton, farm labor leader Cesar Chavez, and film director Ron Howard. He has also written about the lives of several presidents, including Bill Clinton, John Adams, James Monroe, Theodore Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.

Hal lives in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Gail, and daughters Ashley and Michelle.

Reviews

[Susan Honthumb · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting, but the writing wasn't intriguing.