Trivia

His most famous book, "Where the Wild Things Are," was originally going to be titled "Where the Wild Horses Are." He gave that up when he discovered that he couldn't draw horses.

Said he set his goal to become a writer and an illustrator when he was four or five years old.

Sendak and companion Dr. Eugene Glynn lived together for 50 years before Glynn's May 2007 death from lung cancer.

Worked also as a designer for ballet and opera.

Several of the Wild Things were actually caricatures of relatives who used to visit his parents' home when he was a child.

Won the Caldecott Medal in 1964 for the book "Where the Wild Things Are.".

Co-founder of the Night Kitchen Theater and the developer of plays, musicals, and films based on his books.

Produced more than a dozen books of his own and illustrated more than seventy stories by other authors.

Was close friends with playwright Tony Kushner. They collaborated on the book "Brundibar," and he made a cameo in the HBO version of Kushner's Angels in America (2003).

Was a writer and illustrator of children's literature.

Parents Philip and Sarah were from shtetls outside Warsaw, Poland.

After his brother Jack returned from his World War II military service in the Philippines they manufactured wooden toys before their parents threw them out of the house.

Created props for the windows of the FAO Schwarz toy store.

His studio was a large barn in Connecticut.

Was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the 1998 commencement ceremonies for his services to children's literature.

He was awarded the American National Medal of the Arts in 1996 by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington, DC.

His book "Chicken Soup with Rice" was set to music by and sung by Carole King as part of Really Rosie (1975).

Has an older brother Jack, and an older sister.

Was born on a dining room table in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York.

The Educational Paperback Association listed him in its Top-100 Children's Authors.

Illustrated backgrounds for the comic strip Mutt & Jeff.