For my father the one calamity was that my brother and sister and I never learned to swim. My father, who was very macho, was a strong swimmer and was terribly disappointed to have children who didn't swim. Once when my mother was sitting in a beach chair - I can still see the big umbrella - she called to my father, "Throw them in! Throw them in! They'll swim!" So he did. Then he looked down, and there were the three Sendak children lying perfectly still underwater, not fighting for life!

My big concern is me and what do I do now until the time of my death. That is valid. That is useful. That is beautiful. That is creative.

Kids books Grownup books That's just marketing. Books are books.

Kids tell you what they think, not what they think they should think.

That's what art is. You don't make up stories. You live your life.

From their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.

Girls are infinitely more complicated than boys, and women more than men.