PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A misunderstood boy with a deep imagination tries to find freedom after being sent to his room without dinner. Wearing his favorite wolf suit, he sets sail to an island filled with Wild Things who crown him king.
Maurice Sendak’s beloved book “Where the Wild Things Are,” which has sold nearly 20 million copies worldwide, turns 60 this year.
But his creativity does not end there. In fact, a rare picture story he created in Philadelphia in 1970 for a Rosenbach Museum fundraiser, “Ten Little Rabbits,” is in the midst of being republished.
“As wonderful as Wild Things is and as groundbreaking a book it is, there is a whole nother library of Sendak out there that’s just wonderful, wonderful work that we’re hoping people become more aware of,” said Lynn Caponera, executive director of the Maurice Sendak Foundation.
Caponera says “Ten Little Rabbits” follows a boy named Mino and his magic hat as he learns to count to ten and back. She says Sendak’s unmistakable style stands out.
“It’s going to end up to be 32 pages. It’s definitely for a younger audience but it really shows Maurice’s wonderful line and how he can take such simplistic form and make it really interesting and complex and kids are just really drawn to his line.”
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And Judy Guston, curator and senior director of collections at the Rosenbach Museum, says there is a pretty big Sendak fan club here in Philadelphia.
“One of the largest attendances we’ve ever had to an exhibition here is the one that we put up to memorialize Maurice after his death, so he really was a very substantial presence here at the Rosenbach.
“Ten Little Rabbits” will be published in February 2024. It will cost $19.95 and all royalties the Sendak Foundation receives will go to funding its work.
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