Maurice Sendak and Stephen Colbert

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love Stephen Colbert. And anybody who knows Stephen Colbert knows that he doesn’t like “children or books or children’s books.” Nevertheless, last night Colbert interviewed Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, Chicken Soup with Rice and In the Night Kitchen. The resulting footage is one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever seen. Not only does Colbert display his signature quick wit, Sendak is incredibly irreverent about everything, including his own career.

“I don’t write for children,” Sendak told Colbert. “I write, and somebody says, ‘That’s for children.’” Ha! There are so many hilarious bits in this interview and I don’t want to give it all away, but let’s just say some of it involves Vin Diesel. Get ready to be delighted: Continue reading »

Tweet

3

Pin It

Shel Silverstein isn’t the only author of what have become classic kids books to have a new book coming out. Maurice Sendak, the beloved writer and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen, has just published a book about 9-year-old Bumble-ardy, an orphaned pig who as never had a birthday party.

Terri Gross interviewed Sendak for NPR’s show Fresh Air and the 83-year-old talks about what he was going through in his personal life while creating Bumble-ardy. His longtime partner, Eugene Glynn, was dying of lung cancer. Continue reading »

Tweet

2

Pin It

Maurice Sendak is well known for his masterpieces of children’s literature,  all featuring his edgy voice and playfully precise drawing style. But before he hit the big time, Maurice Sendak worked mostly as an illustrator, collaborating with authors on some truly incredible books that are virtually unknown today. If your kids are fans of “Where The Wild Things Are” or “In the Night Kitchen“, check out what Maurice Sendak was doing in his early career. Bonus: Sendak worked a lot with female authors, which I always appreciate, especially when my daughter asks me to “pick a book that a girl made” from her bookshelf. We have a pretty classics-heavy collection,which means, sadly, that’s not always as easy as I would like!

Though you can definitely see the seeds of the style that made Maurice Sendak famous, it’s fun to see how much variation there was in his work in these early projects. They are all quite different from an illustration perspective, which gives them each a unique feel, and may give you new respect for Maurice Sendak’s unique artistic vision. Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It

Are children’s book authors’ lives as squeaky clean as the tales they crank out to bookstores? The other day, I misplaced my better nature and took to the Internet for some research. As it turns out, even the authors of some of the most endearing and cherished children’s classics kept some sordid secrets that didn’t make it on the bio page.

Aesop

The granddaddy of kid’s lit, Aesop’s Fables (like “The Tortoise and the Hare” and “The Ant and the Grasshopper”), ensured him adoration for hundreds of generations. Too bad everyone back in the 6^th century B.C. hated his guts.

Continue reading »

Tweet

24

Pin It

The Ford Motor Company posted a profit, surprising many people. $997 million, first time they’ve had a profit in four years. (New York Times) Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It

Anyone who thought that R. Kelly would never work again after being accused of doing nasty things to underage girls — you would be wrong. He’s back and in a big way, playing Madison Square Garden. He was found not guilty. Maybe that helps. Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It

“Where the Wild Things Are” is probably one of the most hyped films of the year. I had reservations going in, but I was pleasantly surprised.

By almost any measure, this is a very well made movie. The visuals are terrific, the creatures look about as real as they can, and the kid who plays Max (real name Max Records, believe it or not) does a great job.

But is it a children’s movie? Continue reading »

Tweet

0

Pin It