When I was a little girl I loved Where The Wild Things Are so much that when the LA Opera did a performance of it, my mom and I got all dressed up, went out to dinner downtown, which was a big deal for this little beach baby, and went to the opera, just the two of us. I was young, probably only five or six. I was very well behaved and remember sitting in the audience watching the whole thing very intently, song in Italian mind you. At the very end, I knew what was coming and yelled out, "and it was still hot!" I'm sure I wanted to be "king of the wild things."
Maurice Sendak, who wrote and illustrated it, is a legend. Plain & simple. Where The Wild Things Are was arguably one of the best known children's books, or I guess I should just say illustrated short stories, even before Spike Jonze made the movie. Maurice Sendak is a hilarious, eccentric, witty and lovable (although he probably wouldn't agree) old man who lives with his German shepherd, Herman. I love his extensive body of work and I love hearing him speak about his work (click here to see to him talk about illustrating). At 83 years old, he has finished a new book called Bumble Ardy that is set to be released on September 6th. This is the first book that is completely his own since 1981. He joked in the August issue of Vanity Fair, "People from New York have been calling, to see if I'm still alive. When I answer the phone, you can hear the disappointment in their voice." I, for one, am not disappointed, more so, overjoyed!
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"Tell Them Anything You Want"
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