Maurice Sendak RIP

[doversoul1]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/may/13/maurice-sendak-appreciation-shirley-hughes

I have never liked his books very much and I am more than a little suspicious about children’s books that are so very popular with adults as Where the Wild Things Are is, but his drawings were definitely revolutionary (?) in picture books when the book came out.

I think Shirley Hughes is a much better picture book author for children.

All the same, RIP. Maurice Sendak.

[Lateralthinking1]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012...shirley-hughes

I have never liked his books very much and I am more than a little suspicious about children’s books that are so very popular with adults as Where the Wild Things Are is, but his drawings were definitely revolutionary (?) in picture books when the book came out.

I think Shirley Hughes is a much better picture book author for children.

All the same, RIP. Maurice Sendak.

Thank you doversoul. Here are other tributes from the Telegraph and the Independent:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9252346/Where-the-Wild-Things-Are-author-Maurice-Sendak-dies-aged-83.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/where-the-wild-things-are-author-maurice-sendak-dies-aged-83-7722807.html

And there are some good illustrations here - http://offmag.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05...-1928-may.html

He seemed to be disappointed to have been a childrens writer. That, I think, is a pity. I don't share his antipathy towards Disney but there was and is a big place for the more challenging writing he produced, partially informed as it was by the Holocaust.

I am not opposed to adults reading literature for children per se. However, I agree with the sentiments you express in relation to current books for children. The Harry Potter phenomenon becomes a syndrome if it is just about the only literature an adult knows. Each to his own but it is a sad and disappointing reason for choosing what to read on the journey to and from work.