Google’s doodle today honors Maurice Sendak, the beloved children’s author and illustrator who would have turned 85. The artwork spotlights a creator whose books opened doors to vivid, sometimes frightening, but always inviting inner worlds. Across continents and generations, Sendak’s work has sparked conversations about fear, curiosity, and the power of imagination, making him a touchstone for readers in Canada, the United States, and beyond.
Best known for writing and illustrating Where the Wild Things Are, Sendak produced a long list of children’s books, each marked by bold imagery, expressive characters, and a refusal to pretend that childhood is simple. His career stretched far beyond that single title, including memorable works such as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, and The Nutshell Library. He also lent his artistry to Else Holmelund Minarik’s Little Bear series, helping shape a generation’s sense of picture book storytelling. His creations are celebrated for emotional honesty, visual confidence, and an instinct for letting children feel seen on the page. Britannica notes that Sendak’s work emerged from New York City’s vibrant postwar culture, drawing on personal experience and a keen eye for the subtleties of family life.
Sendak died at 83 in 2012, leaving behind a legacy that continues to influence authors, artists, and filmmakers. The 2009 live-action adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, directed by Spike Jonze, brought the book’s dreamlike energy to a broader audience and earned praise for its mood and imaginative design. The film’s approach resonated with audiences curious about how a child’s imagination can coexist with real emotions, a theme central to Sendak’s work.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Where the Wild Things Are was initially set to be titled Where the Wild Horses Are and would have centered on horses, foals, and mares. Sendak could not draw horses, so he proposed drawing “things” instead, and the title evolved accordingly, a shift indirectly noted by literary historians.
- Much of Sendak’s extended family perished in concentration camps, and he did not realize how close his own family had come to danger until he was older and could see the fragility of safety, a fact that deepened the emotional resonance of his work.
- Before becoming a household name in children’s fiction, Sendak illustrated the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik, a collaboration that helped launch his distinctive storytelling voice.
- Sendak reportedly disliked ebooks, preferring the tactile experience of paper and the rhythms of turning pages as part of a shared reading moment with others.
- The creatures he drew for Where the Wild Things Are reflected his immigrant relatives and his early impressions, melding memory with imagination to create a timeless world that invites readers to look closely at fear, longing, and joy.