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Maurice Sendak: ‘I Wonder Why People Still Have Children’

Renowned kids’ author is not happy with humanity

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted Apr 27, 2011 7:06 PM CDT | Updated Apr 30, 2011 1:20 PM CDT

(Newser) – Renowned children's author Maurice Sendak is 82 now, aware of his own mortality, and more concerned than ever that grown-ups are mucking things up for kids. "I think I'm getting out just in time," he tells the Philadelphia Inquirer. "Watching the news, everything seems to be in disorder. Everybody seems to be unhappy. We've lost the knack of living in the world with the sensation of safety."

Which eventually leads the author of Where the Wild Things Are to this: "I wonder why people still have children. I mean, why put kids in the world when the world is so insecure?" The Inquirer notes that he dispenses observations like these not with gloom but with more of a "rollicking doom" familiar to readers. "I take kids seriously," he says at another point. "They have a lot of things wrong. They protect their parents. Children are brave little creatures." Click for the full interview.

A book cover image released by HarperCollins of Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.
A book cover image released by HarperCollins of "Where the Wild Things Are," by Maurice Sendak.   (AP Photo/HarperCollins)
In this Jan. 31 photo, conservators work on Maurice Sendak's Chertoff Mural at the  Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia.
In this Jan. 31 photo, conservators work on Maurice Sendak's Chertoff Mural at the Rosenbach Museum & Library in Philadelphia.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
A 2004 file photo of Maurice Sendak.
A 2004 file photo of Maurice Sendak.   (AP Photo/Mike Appleton, file)
Standing with a character from his book 'Where the Wild Things Are,' author and illustrator Maurice Sendak speaks with the media in 2002.
Standing with a character from his book 'Where the Wild Things Are,' author and illustrator Maurice Sendak speaks with the media in 2002.   (Getty Images)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 24 comments
Ripp
May 2, 2011 7:19 PM CDT
Being a parent to a beautiful 10 yr old girl has been the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. She's happy, healthy, and bright. We were made to reproduce.
fishhook
May 1, 2011 9:31 AM CDT
He is so right. Let's hope this generation can straighten out this messy world.
farrahsmiles
Apr 30, 2011 3:43 PM CDT
SOMEONE has to be around to pay the debt obama and his policies are producing. And yes, it started under bush. But obama has made things SO much worse.
 

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