Did You Know...Maurice Sendak

Well, this is it, the last post of 2013. I can't believe that New Year's Day is the day after tomorrow. With that in mind, I've decided to change things up in the coming year. I'll be cutting back on my Between the Lines character interviews and will be bringing back the popular Did You Know? series. For those of you not familiar with Did You Know?, I feature little-known facts about a different children's book author each week.

Before we continue I wanted to wish you all a very Happy New Year, may all your dreams come true in 2014! Thank you all for the love and support you have given me this past year. I really appreciate it!

This week, we'll be discovering some fun facts about illustrator/author Maurice Sendak. Thanks to Wikipedia for the facts! If you have a fun fact about Maurice Sendak that I did not list here, please share it by leaving it in the comments.

Did you know...

• Many of his extended family members died in the Holocaust?
• When he was 12 he decided to become an illustrator after watching the movie Fantasia?
• Older brother Jack Sendak was a children's book author,, too? Maurice illustrated two of them.
• In addition to illustrating his own books such as Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, and Chicken Soup With Rice, he illustrated many books by other authors, including Else Holmelund Minarik's popular Little Bear series?
• One of his first jobs was creating window displays for F.A.O. Schwarz in Manhattan?
• His first job as an illustrator was illustrating a textbook? The name of the book was Atomics for the Millions by Dr. Maxwell Leigh Eidinoff in 1947.
• His book In the Night Kitchen is one of the most frequently banned/censored books? The book features illustrations of a boy running naked through his dreams.
• Sendak was on the original board of advisors for the Children's Television Workshop when the concept of Sesame Street was developed?
• In addition to illustrating and writing books, Sendak designed sets for a number of ballets and operas? He also consulted and designed numerous movies, television shows and plays for both children ad adults.
• Sendak was born in 1928 in Brooklyn, New York and died in 2012 in Danbury, Connecticut? 

Now, here's a little interview with Maurice Sendak about his views on childhood among other things: