On Wednesday when I saw a Facebook friend’s comment “
Roaring my terrible roar, gnashing my terrible teeth. r.i.p” , I suspected sadly what must have happened. This reference to Maurice Sendak’s ground-breaking picture book “Where the Wild Things Are” will be known to many. The passing this week of children’s author/illustrator Sendak has caused tributes to flow worldwide. Graham Beattie is keeping
an excellent record of these tributes and articles on his blog, including fascinating pictures of unreleased drawings and special mention of Sendak’s early collaboration with his author brother Jack.
On hearing the news of his death, staff at the Sylvia Ashton-Warner Library were quick to put up a display of Sendak’s books and were delighted to see how well-represented his work is in our collections. Do come and browse the display to see both the quality and the volume of Sendak’s work. Only last year we purchased a new title of his, Bumble-Ardy, which was the first book he’d both written and illustrated in the past 30 years.
We would love to hear what Sendak’s work has meant to you.
- Helen O'Carroll