Which Maurice Sendak Book Are You?

Because when it comes to downright silly blog titles, I am one with the universe.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Maurice Sendak was heard to say that of all his books over the years his favorite, without a doubt, is Outside Over There.  Funny.  I would have pegged him as a Higglety Pigglety Pop! man myself.  Those odd thoughts were enough to get me to thinking about the man’s books.  If ever there was an author whose vast range of themes and styles could inspire a psychological test of the human psyche, tis this dude.

So let’s say that you are given a chance to name the Sendak book that best sums up your own personal world view.  What would you pick?  If you wanted to go entirely with picture books he both wrote and illustrated your choices would  include:

• Kenny’s Window (1956)
• Very Far Away (1957)
• The Sign on Rosie’s Door (1960)
• The Nutshell Library (1962)
  • Alligators All Around (An Alphabet)
  • Chicken Soup with Rice (A Book of Months)
  • One Was Johnny (A Counting Book)
  • Pierre (A Cautionary Tale)
• Where the Wild Things Are (1963)
• Higglety Pigglety Pop!, Or: There Must Be More to Life (1967)
• In the Night Kitchen (1970)
• Ten Little Rabbits: A Counting Book with Mino the Magician (1970)
• Some Swell Pup or Are You Sure You Want a Dog? (1976)
• Seven Little Monsters (1977)
• Outside Over There (1981)
• We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy (1993)
• Maurice Sendak’s Christmas Mystery (1995)
• Bumble-Ardy (2011)

If, rather, you wanted a picture book he’d merely illustrated then that list involves:

• The Wonderful Farm (by Marcel Aymé) (1951)
• Good Shabbos Everybody (by Robert Garvey) (1951)
• A Hole is to Dig (written by Ruth Krauss) (1952)
• A Very Special House (written by Ruth Krauss) (1953)
• Hurry Home Candy (written by Meindert DeJong) (1953)
• The Giant Story (written by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers) (1953)
• The Tin Fiddle (written by Edward Tripp) (1954)
• The Wheel on the School (written by Meindert DeJong) (1954)
• Happy Hanukah Everybody (written by Hyman Chanover & Alice Chanover) (1955)
• Little Cow & the Turtle (written by Meindert DeJong) (1955)
• Singing Family of the Cumberlands (written by Jean Ritchie) (1955)
• What Can You Do with a Shoe? (written by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers) (1955)
• Seven Little Stories on Big Subjects (written by Gladys Baker Bond) (1955)
• Charlotte and the White Horse (by Ruth Krauss) (1955)
• I Want to Paint My Bathroom Blue (written by Ruth Krauss) (1956)
• The Birthday Party (by Ruth Krauss) (1957)
• Little Bear, written by Else Holmelund Minarik and illustrated by Maurice Sendak
  • Little Bear (1957)
  • Father Bear Comes Home (1959)
  • Little Bear’s Friend (1960)
  • Little Bear’s Visit (1961)
  • A Kiss for Little Bear (1968)
• Along Came A Dog (written by Meindert DeJong) (1958)
• No Fighting, No Biting! (written by Else Holmelund Minarik) (1958)
• What Do You Say, Dear? (written by Sesyle Joslin) (1958)
• Seven Tales by H. C. Andersen (translated by Eva Le Gallienne) (1959)
• The Moon Jumpers (text by Janice May Udry)(1959)
• Open House For Butterflies (by Ruth Krauss) (1960)
• What Do You Do, Dear? (written by Sesyle Joslin) (1961)
• The Big Green Book (written by Robert Graves) (1962)
• Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present (written by Charlotte Zolotow) (1962)
• The Singing Hill (written by Meindert DeJong) (1962) (Harper Row)
• Dwarf Long-Nose (written by Wilhelm Hauff, translated by Doris Orgel) (1963)
• The Griffin and the Minor Canon (written by Frank R. Stockton) (1963)
• How Little Lori Visited Times Square (written by Amos Vogel) (1963)
• She Loves Me…She Loves Me Not… (written by Robert Keeshan) (1963)
• The Bee-Man of Orn (written by Frank R. Stockton) (1964)
• The Animal Family (written by Randall Jarrell) (1965)
• Hector Protector and As I Went Over the Water: Two Nursery Rhymes (1965)
• Lullabyes and Night Songs (written by Alec Wilder) (1965)
• Zlateh The Goat (written by Isaac Bashevis Singer) (1966)
• I’ll Be you and You be Me (written by Ruth Krauss) (1973)
• King Grisly-Beard (by Brothers Grimm) (1973)
• Pleasant Fieldmouse (by Jan Wahl) (1975)
• Fly by Night (by Randall Jarrell) (1976)
• The Light Princess (by George MacDonald) (1977)
• Shadrach (by Meindert Dejong) (1977)
• The Big Green Book (by Robert Graves) (1978)
• Nutcracker (written by E.T.A. Hoffmann) (1984)
• The Love For Three Oranges (written by Frank Corsaro  (1984)
• Circus Girl (by Jack Sendak) (1985)
• In Grandpa’s House (by Philip Sendak) (1985)
• The Cunning Little Vixen (by Rudolf Tesnohlidek) (1985)
• Dear Mili (written by Wilhelm Grimm) (1988)
• I Saw Esau (edited by Iona Opie and Peter Opie) (1992)
• The Golden Key (by George MacDonald) (1992)
• We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy: Two Nursery Rhymes with Pictures (1993)
• Pierre: or, The Ambiguities: The Kraken Edition (by Herman Melville) (1995)
• The Miami Giant (written by Arthur Yorinks) (1995)
• Frank and Joey Go to Work (by Arthur Yorinks) (1996)
• Penthesilea (written by Heinrich von Kleist) (1998)
• Swine Lake (written by James Marshall) (1999)
• Brundibár (written by Tony Kushner) (2003)
• Sarah’s Room (written by Doris Orgel) (2003)
• The Happy Rain (written by Jack Sendak) (2004)
• Bears! (written by Ruth Krauss) (2005)
• Mommy! (written by Arthur Yorinks) (2006)

Much of this was haphazardly taken from Wikipedia, by the way, so don’t count on it to be entirely accurate or anything.

Looking over this list, one title stands out.  For me, the Sendak book that is closest to my heart and has applications far beyond its tiny story, is the little Nutshell Library title Pierre (not to be confused with the very different Pierre he also illustrated).  It seems to me that in an era of Occupied Wall Streets and events that beg extra attention, “the moral of Pierre is care”.  And care we should.

And yourself?  Is there a MS book you apply to your own life?

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