Where the Wild Things Are.

SENDAK, Maurice.

Item Number: 138761

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1963.

First edition of the 25th anniversary edition of one of the most desirable books in modern children’s literature. Oblong quarto, original cloth backed pictorial paper boards. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “For Gloria Burton Maurice Sendak.” Fine in a near fine dust jacket.

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.