ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Preliminary design for dust jacket for Where the Wild Things Are. Pen and ink, watercolor. © Maurice Sendak, 1963. All rights reserved.
This resource contains suggested discussion questions and activities designed explore books by author/illustrator Maurice Sendak. Activities focus on the bookmaking process, gaining an understanding of how Sendak’s personal experience informs his writing, and encourages comparisons of illustrations, themes, and characters across Sendak’s books. This guide is an ideal resource for creating an author study on Maurice Sendak.
Preliminary design for dust jacket for Where the Wild Things Are. Pen and ink, watercolor. © Maurice Sendak, 1963. All rights reserved.
Maurice Sendak has written or illustrated more than 100 picture books over his 60 year career. A number of those books, including Where the Wild Things Are, In the Night Kitchen, and Chicken Soup with Rice, inspired generations of children and changed the landscape of picture books. Included in the exhibition are original watercolors, preliminary sketches, drawings, and dummy books from more than 40 of Sendak’s books, all from the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, the repository for Sendak’s artwork and working materials. This major retrospective sheds light on the many mysteries of his life and art by exploring the intensely personal undercurrents in his work; and it does so using Sendak’s own words, insights, and remarkable stories.
The exhibition explores a number of different aspects of Sendak’s books including his child characters, monsters, literary and artistic influences, and the settings of his stories. Visitors will delve into the hidden nuances and personal secrets within Sendak’s work through exclusive interviews with the artist on digital touch screens throughout the exhibition. As Sendak himself said in one such interview, “When you hide another story in a story, that’s the story I am telling the children.” These hidden stories within Sendak’s work form the core experience of There’s a Mystery There.
There's a Mystery There: Sendak on Sendak was organized by The Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia, and was made possible thanks to a grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services, as well as the Greater Philadelphia Tourism & Marketing Corporation. The national tour is presented by HarperCollins Children's Books. The San Francisco presentation has been made possible by lead support from the Koret and Taube Foundations.
Education and outreach for the exhibition are generously supported by The Louise and Claude Rosenberg Jr. Family Foundation and the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund. Additional support provided by Julie and David Levine.
Media sponsorship provided by KGO-TV, KQED, and Bay Area Parent.
Header image: Maurice Sendak, Final drawing for Where the Wild Things Are. Pen and ink, watercolor. © Maurice Sendak, 1963. All rights reserved.