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How Maurice Sendak Redrew Childhood in “Where the Wild Things Are”

Our American Stories / Lee Habeeb
The Truth Network Radio
December 9, 2025 3:00 am

How Maurice Sendak Redrew Childhood in “Where the Wild Things Are”

Our American Stories / Lee Habeeb

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December 9, 2025 3:00 am

Maurice Sendak, a renowned children's book artist, drew inspiration from his childhood experiences and observations of children to create iconic stories. His most famous work, 'Where the Wild Things Are,' challenged traditional notions of children's literature by dealing with complex emotions like anger and fear. Sendak's unique style and honesty in depicting childhood made him a beloved figure in the world of children's literature.

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and the American people. Genius, wrote poet Charles Bonelaire. is only childhood recalled at will. Few people have given more credence to this notion than Maurice Sendbeck. who was, in the words of the New York Times, quote, widely considered to be the most important children's book artist.

of the twentieth century. Here's Greg Hengler with the story of children's book author and illustrator. Maurice Sendak. Philosopher Gaston Bachelard once remarked. that each childhood is a nightlight in the bedroom of memories.

In Maurice Sendak's case, It was the catalyst for more than 100 illustrated children's books that have sold more than 30 million copies in the United States alone.

Some titles include The Little Bear Books, Pierre, Chicken Soup with Rice. where the wild things are, and in the night kitchen. Marie Sendak was the third and youngest child born into a Jewish family on June 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York. My father would talk about watching me get bored. He said, you're the happiest baby I ever saw.

The other kids didn't Hugh came out almost laughing. And then he wrote me once and said, I'll never forget. those early days when I would come in in the dark room in the crypt. And you'd just be laughing all by yourself like a little bell. Like a little bell ringing.

Oh wow. Wow. What a start I had. What a good beginning. What a hopeful sign that was.

What did they do? Break the bell? Maurice's sister Natalie was nine, and his brother Jack was five when he was born. Until he was about six, Maurice was a very sick child and spent most of his time in his room watching the world through his window. The window became my movie camera, my television set, he said.

He would illustrate what he saw through the window, and his brother Jack would write the stories. Both of Marisa's parents were Polish immigrants and had many relatives still living in Poland during the rise of Hitler and his Nazi party. They managed to rescue a few to the United States, but in 1941, on the morning of his bar mitzvah, which is a special ceremony for Jewish boys when they turn 13, Maurice learned every one of his relatives back in Poland had been killed by the Nazis. In the days after the war ended, Maurice found himself a job in Manhattan as an artist with a company that created displays for storefronts. He was so good that he quickly earned himself a promotion.

But his new co-workers' dissatisfaction with their jobs caused Maurice to quit. and he moved back and with his family in Brooklyn. picking up where he left off, spending his time staring out the window. Sketching. He became particularly interested in a little girl named Rosie.

with his window open. He could hear her talking to other children. She would make up games and stories and bully them into playing along. Once he heard her gleefully describing her own grandmother's death in great detail. until the grandmother herself appeared on the steps.

Another time, she described a fight between her parents as if she were a radio announcer. She was always the center of attention but, as Maurice said, saved the other children from their worst enemy. Boredom. Years later, Rosie would become his favorite character. the heroine of his 1960 book, The sign on Rosie's door.

I didn't have a lot of friends. I mostly observed children. I'd sit at my window and I'd draw them, even when I was a child. And I would tell their stories. As their stories floated up to the window, I would write what their stories were.

Today, Rosie decided to wear her long red dress. I filled gallons of sketchbooks with Rosie stories and other kids' stories. And I kept a journal. And very bad luck, everybody who saw my work. You all use the same word, like it's European.

You all look at American children's books. You see, they have cute upturned noses and Little puff of blonde hair in the front. And I was thinking, I never knew a kid that looked like that. Never. They all had squashed heads and thumpy lumpy bodies.

Yeah. That summer in 1948, Maurice's brother Jack was also out of work and living at home. Together the brothers came up with an idea to make money. They created boxes with tiny wooden figures that moved and acted out scenes from fairy tales. Here's Maurice in 1966.

Speaking of toys, I have some here. which were made by my brother and myself. 1948. My brother is the mechanical genius and put them together and these are little fairy tales which I'm sure you're all very well acquainted with. This Little Red Riding Hood It has a lever which when pulled out causes Little Red Riding Hood to collapse in mortal terror, the wolf to rear his hideous head above the blanket, and when pushed back again, the world is back to normalcy.

She's now standing expectantly, all ready to go through the same routine the rest of eternity. Uh we spent the whole summer, summer of 1948 making these toys. until my father was appalled at having three grown children spending the summer making toys in the house so we were all dumped out of the house to earn A living. They took them to the most famous toy store in the world. FAO Schwartz in Manhattan.

The buyer there loved their toys, but they were much too complicated to be mass produced and sold. Still, The buyer was so impressed that he offered Maurice a job creating window displays. And you've been listening to our own Greg Hengler tell the story of the most important children's book artist. of the 20th century, or at least one of them. Maurice Sendak, certainly my favorite.

And what a story. That we're hearing. Born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family. and he was the family of Polish immigrants and in 1941 on the day of his bamitzva, that being his thirteenth birthday. he learned his relatives in Poland All of them.

but can kill by Nazis. And then, well, his life began really by looking out of his window. I didn't have a lot of friends. I mostly observe them. and then I started to sketch.

and write about them. And ultimately, well that job doing window displays at the greatest toy store. in the world. When we come back. The story of Maurice Sendak.

continues here. on our American stories. Here at Our American Stories, we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith, and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that need to be told. But we can't do it without you.

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Where did that story come from? Book? Dream? Nope. It came from a conversation.

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This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability, and concentration issues, it may be due to OSA. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation.

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Get the gift of the season for the music enthusiast in your life or for yourself. Wim Sound, beautifully designed, effortlessly connected. Shop now at Amazon and search Wim Sound. That's W I M S O U N D. And we continue with Our American Stories and the story of Maurice Sendak, perhaps the most important children's book artist of the 20th century.

We last left off with the two unemployed Sendak brothers, Maurice and Jack. returning to their parents' Brooklyn home. and spending the summer of 1948 making toys that were based on well-known fairy tales and nursery rhymes. They even drafted their sister Natalie to knit the toys' clothes. Here again.

is Greg Hengler. Maurice excelled and in his off time would hang out in the toy store's book section, where he became friends with the woman in charge of buying books. One day, Harper and Brothers book editor Ursula Nordstrom, the woman responsible for the books of authors Laura Ingalls Wilder, E. B. White and Shel Silverstein, was expected to visit F.A.O.

Schwartz. Maurice's drawings were spread out all over the book department. Marie said, It was like putting a huge hook in the water. and waiting for a fish to be caught. Maurice caught his fish.

Ursula Nordstrom saw Maurice's drawings and the next day offered him a job illustrating a book. They became lifelong friends. Her name is Ursula Nordstrom. She made me who I am. She gave me a book every year.

She kept me working. I mean, can you imagine mentorship from a publishing house? She intended that I should be an important illustrator. She knew I could be. and bad habits.

I never went to art school. I drew in a clumsy fashion. But she could see beneath that. Over the next five years, Maurice developed his own style. He wanted to add something new.

The best illustrated books are the books where the text does one thing and the picture says something just a little off center of the language, so they're both doing something. The most boring books are where the pictures are restating the text, he said in an interview. After Rosie, he wrote the Nutshell Library. A set of four tiny books in a box that included chicken soup with rice and Pierre. By 1963, Maurice had written seven books and illustrated more than forty.

Five of the books he illustrated had won the coveted Caldecott Honor Medals. At this point, All his books were illustrated in only two or three colors because full color printing was very expensive. But now, Maurice felt ready to do his first full-color book. Where the Wild Things Are. But before he began drawing, He wanted to be sure the words were absolutely perfect.

The final story has only 338 words, but he wrestled over every one of them. Here's Maurice in 1985.

Well, The Wild Things was the big challenge in terms of it was going to be my first picture book. And I was very feeling imperiled about doing this book because full color book, picture book form, I'd love the picture book form, but I hadn't done it yet. I'd illustrated other. people's picture books, but I hadn't done my own.

So It had to be a significant work and only that it had to come thoroughly out of myself. I mean, it had to be a subject that was Passionately close to my heart.

So, what was passionately close to my heart was a kid and a kid doing something, and whatever that something was, was what the book was going to be about. Uh it was called Where the Wild Horses Are. for a very long time until I discovered horrifyingly that I couldn't draw horses.

So I had to change the title. I changed the title various times to things that I could draw, and finally, the best thing was things. Because that could be anything. And so my drawing ability wouldn't be challenged by anybody. And then what do the things look like?

Well, I went back into my head as to Who were monsters in my life?

Well, they were all my uncles and aunts. bloodshut eyes and big huge noses and bad teeth. And they would grab you by the cheek and pummel you and Say all the conventional banal things that I'll say, like how cute you are, and you look so good, we could eat you up, and knowing them, they probably could and would. The real problem in that book Was the writing of the book and how difficult the writing of the book was. Why would a child turn a page?

A child is a polite. I mean, adults will. Um conscientiously read a book they dislike 'cause they feel they should. Children don't feel any such compulsion. If they hate the first two pages, it's whammo against the wall.

That's the end of the book. They don't care if it's one. 18 Caldicott Awards, right?

Okay.

So you've got to catch them. You've got to catch them in a kind of rhythmic pattern, in a kind of syncopation that makes them turn that page. The night Max wore his wolf sword and it built and it built, and you trap them. I mean, they can't get out of the book. Uh The night Max wore his wolf suit.

Yeah. had made mischief of one kind And another. No. His mother called him Wild thing! And Max said, I'll eat you up So he was sent to bed without eating anything.

Brrrrr It was published to a lot of noise, which I'll skip. I don't think that's very interesting. Criticism and rages and carryings on that this would frighten children.

Well, I knew it wouldn't, because it didn't frighten me. And I trusted myself and my own instinct, and it didn't frighten children. And if it did frighten some children, well, okay. Perhaps it had to. Perhaps, I mean, why would any one book be good for all children?

That's silly. I mean, no grown-up book. is good for all people, so we mustn't assume that even a book that wins a cul-de-code is appropriate for every child reading it. And Max. The king of all wild things.

was lonely. and wanted to be where someone loved him best of all. Then all around from far away across the world. he smelled good things to eat.

So he gave up being king of where the wild things are. But the wild things cried, Oh, please don't go We'll eat you up We love you so And Max said, No. The wild things roared their terrible roars. And gnashed their terrible teeth. And rolled their terrible eyes.

and showed their terrible claws. But Max stepped into his private boat. and waved goodbye. And sailed back over a year. And in and out of weeks And through a day And into the night of his very own room.

where he found his supper waiting for him. And it was still hot. And you've been listening to our own Greg Hengler. Share the story of Maurice Sendak. And what a story it is indeed.

Here he is having sort of weaseled his way in through hustle and grit, to being a decorator of store displays and windows, and in comes Ursula Nordstrom from Harper Brothers. And of course, Sendak's ready. His illustrations are everywhere. And as he put it, she made me who I am. I never went to art school.

and drew in a clumsy fashion. But she could see beneath that. By the way, that's the story of Irving Berlin and so many of American artists. They weren't highly trained. They came from the ground up.

They came from the people up, like the country or a self-governed. By us. The democratization of our art. This is one of these kinds of stories we cherish here. on the show.

And then he gets that shot. The first picture book that he fully illustrates and writes, and it's in full color. But he has to have it be about something that he is thoroughly engaged with as any good piece of art. and out came where the wild things are. And it started with where the wild horses are, but he couldn't draw horses, thank goodness for all of us.

But he could make up things and base those characters that we all love, or so many of us love. On his aunts and uncles. And just sort of morph those hands and uncles into these monsters, essentially. The critics, well, many of them were worried about the fact that it would frighten the kids, and it may have frightened some, not this kid. When I was a kid, this was my favorite book.

I could be put to sleep to this still tonight. By this book. when we continue more of the story of Maurice Sendak here. on our American stories. Ten athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points.

You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000. This is where mindset comes in.

Someone will be eliminated. Pressure is coming down. Peggy. It's Trainer Game. Watch it on Prime Video starting January 8th.

Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the bottom of the ocean. Where did that story come from? Book? Dream? Nope, it came from a conversation.

Meet Miko Mini Plus, the AI companion that co-creates personalized story adventures with your child in real time. What color was the hamster's cape? And what did he pack for lunch? Unlock your child's imagination. Discover Miko Mini Plus and the magic of AI exclusively at Costco.

Come for the Black Friday seasonal savings. Stay for the award-winning reporting. For a limited time, access to the Washington Post is just 99 cents. That's unlimited access to all of the posts for only 99 cents every four weeks. That's a great deal for the first year.

After that, it'll cost $12 every four weeks. You can cancel any time. But don't wait, this Black Friday seasonal offer won't be here for long. Go to Washington Post dot com slash iHeart and grab this deal before it's gone. That's Washington Post dot com slash iHeart.

This is Sophie Cunningham from Show Me Something. Do you know the symptoms of moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, in adults with obesity? They may be happening to you without you knowing. If anyone has ever said you snored loudly or if you spend your days fighting off excessive tiredness, irritability, and concentration issues, it may be due to OSA. OSA is a serious condition where your airway partially or completely collapses during sleep, which may cause breathing interruptions and oxygen deprivation.

Learn more at don'tsleep on OSA.com. This information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company. Bring incredible sound into every corner of your home this holiday with the new Wim Sound smart speaker. Get high-resolution audio with a 1.8-inch touchscreen, smart control, and modern design in one powerful speaker for just $2.99. From quiet mornings to lively holiday gatherings, WimSound makes every moment sound better and feel better too.

Get the gift of the season for the music enthusiast in your life or for yourself. Wim Sound. Beautifully designed, effortlessly connected. Shop now at Amazon and search Wim Sound. That's W-I-I-M-S-O-U-N-D.

And we continue with our American stories and the story of Maurice Sendak. Let's pick up. where we last left off. Where the Wild Things Are helped change picture books forever. Before it came out, Most children's books only talked about nice feelings.

After Where the Wild Things Are was released, People started to realize that it was good for a picture book to deal with other feelings like anger and fear. One little boy sent him a fan letter and Marie sent back an original drawing of a wild thing. But Soon after, Maurice got a letter from the boy's mother. Jim loved your card so much he ate it, the mother wrote. Maurice always said this was one of the best compliments he ever received.

Then after a while things the next picture book. in the night kitchen was 1970. The reason it took the form of a comic book was because I loved comic books when I was a child. I didn't have children's books. I didn't even know there were children's books until I went to school and we had to sit in the auditorium and hear Pinocchio read to us and Winnie the Pooh read to us.

I hated them. Because I didn't like my teachers and I didn't like being told stories where I had to have my hands clasped in my lap. Anyway, Night Kitchen was going to be a comic book and that was that. In the Night Kitchen was based on Maurice's memory as an eleven year old with his older sister Natalie. Here's Maurice in two thousand eight.

Nineteen thirty nine World's Fair I was screaming to be taken. I had to go with an older person. And she had a new boyfriend. And somehow she talked him into accepting the idea that they would take me along. And I was the seventh heaven.

I just loved it. and we stopped at the Sunshine Baker's little fat bakers And they're all standing in tears on white platforms. That whole place was so like a 1930s movie, white. white carall barred white and all these little bidgets came out. Little tubby guys with little black mustaches.

and the aroma of fresh baking came out of the building. It was like pumping it out into the air and I just stood there breathing the smell of it. bread and ca I love the smell of baking bread. And I was just waving back. Here's Maurice making one more point on In the Night Kitchen.

And it was going to be simple. It was going to look like Windsor Mackay a little bit. It was going to look like Mickey Mouse a little bit. It was going to look like everybody I loved. And it was going to tell a story that obsessed me, which is a story about food, which is a story about Why those little creatures at the 1939 World's Fair, those sunshine bakers with their advertisement that says, We cook while you sleep, why did they do that?

Why didn't they wait till I was up? I mean, why did everything good happen when children went to bed?

So, this was going to be a book about a kid who gets up at night, hears what's going on, and investigates. It just feels wonderful. because it has all the energy and zest that a Mickey Mouse cartoon has for me. And the irresistible little boy hero from In the Night Kitchen is named Mickey after his favorite cartoon character. Mickey Mouse.

Here's actor James Gandalfini. Best known for his role as Tony Soprano, the mafia boss in HBO's television series, The Sopranos. I woke up a small man. Good evening. My name is James Candolfini.

I have the pleasure today to read The Night Kitchen by Morris Sendak. Did you ever hear of Mickey? How he heard a racket in the night and shouted. Quiet down there. and fell through the dark.

Out of his clothes. Past the moon. and his mamma and papa sleeping tight. Mickey the Milkman dived down to the bottom. Singing, I'm in the milk and the milk's in me God bless milk and God bless me.

Then he swam to the top, pouring milk from his cup into batter below.

So the bakers they mixed it and beat it and baked it. Milk in the batter, milk in the batter, We bake cake and nothing's the matter.

Now Mickey in the night kitchen cried, Cockadoodle-doo! and slid down the side. Straight into bed. Cake-free and dried. And that's why Thanks to Mickey.

We have cake every morning. In 1967, Maurice suffered a serious heart attack. He was only thirty nine years old. he began to think he needed to live some place calmer than New York City. Eventually he settled into a farmhouse in the Connecticut countryside.

When Maurice was a small child, A picture of his dead grandfather hung over his bed. One day, his mother came in to find him trying to climb into the pitcher. He had a high fever and was speaking in Yiddish. His grandfather had spoken in Yiddish, but little Maurice didn't know how to speak the language. His mother thought her father's ghost was trying to lure her son back into the spirit world.

To stop him, he She tore the pitcher into little pieces. Years later, Maurice found them. He took the pieces to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. where someone spent months putting them back together. From then on, The pitcher hung over Maurice's bed.

Someday, he told people, I'm going to go through the picture. On May 8th, 2012, at 83 years of age. He did. I did some very good books. which mostly is an isolationist form of life.

doing books, doing pictures. It's sublime. Let's just go into another room and make pictures. It's magic time. Where all your weaknesses of character and all blemishes of personality and Whatever else torments you.

Fades away. You're doing the one thing you want to do, and you do it well, and you know you do it well. You're happy. I think what I've offered It was different. But not because I drew better than anybody or wrote better than anybody, but because I was more honest than anybody.

And in the discussion of children, in the lives of children, and the fantasies of children, and the language of children. I said anything I wanted. Because I don't believe in children. I don't believe in childhood. I don't believe that it's demarcation.

Okay, you must have told him that. You must have told him that. You can tell them anything you want. Just tell them if it's true. If it's true, you tell them.

I have adult thoughts in my head, experiences. But I'm never gonna talk about them. I'm never gonna write about them. The wires by needle stuck. in childhood.

I don't know what I don't know. I guess that's where my heart is. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And my goodness, what a joy, what a privilege to get to hear Maurice Sendak. And we do that often on this show: bring the actual voices of folks alive.

And they're still living. in the hearts of so many millions of people. The words and the and the works uh writers and illustrators like Sendak, but to hear his actual voice. Uh it's just something special. And we go to great efforts to do these things.

And again, a terrific job. By Greg. And what a story we heard here. And by the way, hearing James Gandolfini, Read in the night kitchen. who is worth everything.

This tough guy who played the lead in the Sopranos, who played Tony Soprano. has this beautiful, sensitive side. He has a heart attack in 1967. Sendak does. and moves to Connecticut to the countryside.

To do what he does, and that story about the picture of his grandfather over his bed. And then he takes that torn-up picture. Puts it back together, puts it over his bed, because he says, One day I'm going to go through that picture. I don't believe in children or childhood, he said. Tell them anything you want.

If it's true, Tell them why. The story of Maurice Sendak. Here on Our American Stories. 10 athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit.

Only one of you. Will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000. This is when mindset comes in.

Someone will be eliminated. Pressure is coming down. This It's Trainer Games. Watch it on Prime Video starting January 8th. Then the space hamster flew his hot air balloon all the way to the bottom of the ocean.

Where did that story come from? Book? Dream? Nope. It came from a conversation.

Meet Miko Mini Plus, the AI companion that co-creates personalized story adventures with your child in real time. What color was the hamster's cape? And what did he pack for lunch? Unlock your child's imagination. Discover Miko Mini Plus and the magic of AI exclusively at Costco.

Come for the Black Friday seasonal savings. Stay for the award-winning reporting. For a limited time, access to the Washington Post is just 99 cents. That's unlimited access to all of the posts for only 99 cents every four weeks. That's a great deal for the first year.

After that, it'll cost $12 every four weeks. You can cancel any time. But don't wait, this Black Friday seasonal offer won't be here for long. Go to Washington Post dot com slash iHeart and grab this deal before it's gone. That's Washington Post dot com slash iHeart.

Bring incredible sound into every corner of your home this holiday with the new WimSound smart speaker. Get high-resolution audio with a 1.8-inch touchscreen, smart control, and modern design in one powerful speaker for just $2.99. From quiet mornings to lively holiday gatherings, WimSound makes every moment sound better and feel better too. Get the gift of the season for the music enthusiast in your life or for yourself. WimSound, beautifully designed, effortlessly connected.

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