Vintage Children's Books News

Good morning & welcome to this week's Book Trivia Tuesday!  Two weeks ago, we discussed some of the names pitched for the Nancy Drew Mystery series by Edward Stratemayer before the name Nancy Drew was settled on.

This week we are shifting gears & focusing on Maurice Sendak.  Not only did Sendak write & illustrate his own children's books, but he also illustrated books for other authors as well, most notably The Little Bear books written by Else Holmelund Minarik. But did you know he had another job, which leads to this week's trivia question:  In the late 1970's what was the second career Maurice Sendak took on?

Sendak became a costume designer for opera and musical sets in the late 1970's, working on such operas as Krása’s Brundibar, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges, and Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, as well as Tchaikovsky’s ballet, The Nutcracker. He also designed the sets and costumes, as well as wrote the book and lyrics for the musical production of Really Rosie. - Taken from his official website shown below.

Let's dig a little deeper into his life:  Although his most famous work is Where the Wild Things Are, he wrote and illustrated 15 books. He also worked with six authors to illustrate their books & illustrated many classics including Mother Goose and The Brother Grimm Fairy Tales.  

"Maurice Sendak remains the most honored children’s book artist in history. He was the recipient of the 1964 Caldecott Medal, the 1970 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 1983 Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the 2003 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. In 1996 President Bill Clinton presented him with the National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America".  ~Taken from the Biography page of The Maurice Sendak Foundation's website.  

You can see some of his works at the following two exhibits this year:  

Skirball Cultural Center

April 17, 2024 thru September 1, 2024

Denver Art Museum

October 13, 2024 thru February 17, 2025

And lastly, you can download resources for learning & teaching more about his books on his website:  www.mauricesendak.com

To find Sendak's books currently available for purchase here at Log Cabin Vintage, click here.