SENDAK, Maurice.

Where the Wild Things Are.

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers , 1963.

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Out of Stock Item Number: RRB-151838

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“There should be a place where only the things you want to happen, happen”: First Edition of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are

First edition, first printing in the first-issue dust jacket of one of the scarcest and most desirable books in modern children’s literature. Oblong octavo, original cloth backed pictorial paper boards, illustrated endpapers, illustrated throughout by the author, with the Library of Congress catalogue card number 63-21253 on title page. Near fine in a very good first-issue price-clipped dust jacket. This is the correct first state of the dust jacket with no mention of the Caldecott award, and three-paragraph blurbs on flaps, and codes 40-80 and 1163 at bottom of front flap, gift inscription to the half-title page.

Hailed as "the Picasso of children's books," Maurice Sendak produced more than 85 books, of which Where the Wild Things Are is undeniably the most famous, being one of the ten best-selling children's books of all time. "Wild Things!' When Max's sojourn among them unfolded in kinematic splendor in 1963, adults trembled and children reveled. Reaching back into his own Brooklyn childhood, Sendak created the enduring child-hero Max, who overcomes his fears and achieves catharsis in a colorful fantasy tableau. The book was awarded the 1964 Caldecott Medal by the American Library Association" (NYPL Books of the Century 212). Basis for the 2009 film directed by Spike Jonze starring Max Records and features the voices of James Gandolfini, Paul Dano, Lauren Ambrose, Forest Whitaker, Catherine O'Hara, and Chris Cooper.