Sendak Books Quotes & Sayings

We are flooded with books; books come pouring out of the publishing meat grinder. And, the quality has dropped severely. We may be able to print a book better, but intrinsically the book, perhaps, is not better than it was. We have a backlist of books, superb books, by Margaret Wise Brown, by Ruth Krauss, by lots of people. I'd much rather we just took a year off, a moratorium: no more books. For a year, maybe two - just stop publishing. And get those old books back, let the children see them! Books don't go out of fashion with children; they only go out of fashion with adults. So that kids are deprived of the works of art which are no longer around simply because new ones keep coming out.

from The Openhearted Audience (1980) — Maurice Sendak

The qualities that make for excellence in children's literature can be summed up in a single word: imagination. And imagination as it relates to the child is, to my mind, synonymous with fantasy. Contrary to most of the propaganda in books for the young, childhood is only partly a time of innocence. It is, in my opinion, a time of seriousness, bewilderment, and a good deal of suffering. It's also possibly the best of all times. Imagination for the child is the miraculous, freewheeling device he uses to course his way through the problems of every day ... It's through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. — Maurice Sendak

You cannot write for children. They're much too complicated. You can only write books that are of interest to them. — Maurice Sendak

Because I am well read, I know what a terrible cliche it is to shout, "I *hate* you. I never *asked* to be born," so I refrain. — Caitlin Moran

Artistic style is only a means to an end, and the more styles you have, the better. To get trapped in a style is to lose all flexibility. If you have only one style, then you're going to do the same book over and over, which is pretty dull. Lots of styles permit you to walk in and out of books. So, develop a fine style, a fat style, and fairly slim style, and a really rough style.
As an aspiring artist, you should strive for originality of vision. Have something to say and a fresh way of saying it. No story is worth the writing, no picture worth the making, if it's not the work of the imagination. — Maurice Sendak

Football is a game of inches and inches make the champion — Vince Lombardi Jr.

I hate those e-books. They can not be the future ... they may well be ... I will be dead. — Maurice Sendak

There are certain pieces of music that are always attached to certain books. — Maurice Sendak

Nonviolent tactics can move into action on our behalf men not naturally inclined to act for us. — Barbara Deming

There's so much more to book than just reading — Maurice Sendak

I never spent less than two years on the text of one of my picture books, even though each of them is approximately 380 words long. Only when the text is finished ... do I begin the pictures. — Maurice Sendak

Dreaming is one thing, and working towards the dream is one thing, but working with expectations in mind is very self-defeating. — Michael Landon

As a child, I felt that books were holy objects, to be caressed, rapturously sniffed, and devotedly provided for. I gave my life to them. I still do. I continue to do what I did as a child; dream of books, make books and collect books. — Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak is the daddy of them all when it comes to picture books - the words, the rhythm, the psychology, the design. — Anthony Browne

Kids books Grownup books That's just marketing. Books are books, — Maurice Sendak

I was sickly as a child and gravitated to books and drawing. During my early teen years, I spent hundreds of hours at my window, sketching neighborhood children at play. I sketched and listened, and those notebooks became the fertile field of my work later on. There is not a book I have written or a picture I have drawn that does not, in some way, owe them its existence. — Maurice Sendak

Deep in the chaotic regime, slight changes in structure almost always cause vast changes in behavior. Complex controllable behavior seems precluded. — Stuart Kauffman

what unprotected faces they were; their very roughness and violence made them defenseless. These boys had no practiced manner behind which they could retreat and hold people at a distance. — Willa Cather

It is a blessing to get old. It is a blessing to find the time to do the things, to read the books, to listen to the music. I have nothing now but praise for my life. — Maurice Sendak

I need nothing. I seek nothing. I desire nothing. — Milarepa

I think 'Gasland' is the doorway for a lot of people to see something happening in their backyard and realize the national and global implications. — Josh Fox

Messages are the death of an honest literary transaction with children — Maurice Sendak

I write books that seem more suitable for children, and that's OK with me. They are a better audience and tougher critics. Kids tell you what they think, not what they think they should think. — Maurice Sendak

I never set out to write books for children. I don't have a feeling that I'm gonna save children or my life is devoted. — Maurice Sendak

I do not remember any proper children's books in my childhood. I was not exposed to them. — Maurice Sendak

I think there is something barbaric in children, and it's missing in lots of books for them because we don't like to think of it. We want them to be happy [but] childhood is a very tough time. — Maurice Sendak