It seems entirely fitting that Maurice Sendak was born on the same day that Mickey Mouse first made his cartoon debut--June 10, 1928. Sendak was crazy about cartoons and comic books, and at twelve, after seeing Disney's Fantasia, he decided that he was going to become an illustrator. His love of childrens books began early: often sick and confined to bed, little Maurice read and read and read. Though many of his own stories were light and funny, the most important ones--Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There--dealt with anger, jealousy, abandonment, content that had never before been the subject of picture books. As well as covering career highlights, this easy to read, illustrated biography also describes the personal life of this genius.


1928年6月10日，是米老鼠卡供首次播映的日子，也是莫里斯‧桑達克的生日！這個巧合似乎完全合理。因為莫里斯‧桑達克很迷卡通和漫畫書，早在他十二歲看完迪士尼的《幻想曲》時，就決定要成為插畫家。他對童書的熱愛很早就萌芽了，幼時常臥病在床的他，最常做的事情就是閱讀。雖然他寫的故事大多輕鬆詼諧，但是在《野獸國》、《廚房之夜的狂想曲》及《在那遙遠的地方》等著作中卻也觸及繪本從未出現過的主題，像是憤怒、嫉妒、遺棄及滿足等情感。這本附插畫的傳記簡單易讀，不只談及作者的事業生涯高峰，亦描述這位天才的私生活。