Sad news today. Beloved children’s author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak, has passed away at the age of 83. According to this New York Times article he died from complications from a recent stroke.

As many books as I’m sure were read to me in elementary school ”Where the Wild Things Are” is the only book I remember in detail. 

It coincided with starting a new school. This is one of the first times I was in the library. My class sat cross legged on the orange carpet squeezing around and in-between the ends of the bookcases. The librarian sat in a desk chair and read  slowly holding up the book so we could see the pictures. I remember being scared of  the wild things yet loving them at the same time. Later we watched a movie (which was more slide show than animation) solidifying it as one of my all-time favorite books.

When my daughter was an infant, I started purchasing books to fill her bookcase. This was first on on the shelf.

Are you a Maurice Sendak fan? Please share your memories of the beloved author.