10 June 2005

Happy Birthday to the King of All Wild Things

Today, Maurice Sendak celebrates his 77th birthday. Not only has he written some of the greatest books and created some of the best art of the twentieth century, but he proferred one of the most valuable pieces of advice I have ever heard:

"If there's any advice I have to give, I would say it's that. If you're looking for a way to get closer to your kids, there ain't no better way than to grab 'em and read. And if you put them in front of a computer or a TV, you are abandoning them. You are abandoning them because they are sitting on a couch or a floor and they may be hugging a dog, but they ain't hugging you."

I wish Mr. Sendak much love and joy on his birthday and always.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hear, hear.

It seems not so long ago I read his books to my siblings - and then, not too much longer, to my own children; and now, these days, to my grandchildren.

Ian T. said...

A great, great artist indeed, and one who has - fortunately for us - chosen children's books as his primary medium. There are plenty of obscure ones worth unearthing for the Sendak enthusiast, but the marvellous, classic trilogy of Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen and Outside Over There will remain hard to beat - these appear timeless.