One of the pre-eminent children's book authors and illustrators of the twentieth century, Maurice Sendak has produced over a dozen books of his own as well as illustrating more than seventy stories by other authors. He is well known both for his distinctive illustrations and for his stories, which explore, in unsentimental terms, how children deal with their fears and emotions through fantasy. Sendak's career has also encompassed such projects as film adaptation and set and costume design for a variety of theatrical productions.

Maurice Bernard Sendak was born on June 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest child of Philip and Sarah (Schindler) Sendak. Before World War I, his parents left their Jewish shtetls (small towns) in Po...