Caldecott & Co. : Notes on Books & Pictures
Maurice Sendak

Max is my bravest and therefore my dearest creation. Like all children, he believes ina flexible world of fantasy and reality, a world where a child can skip from one to the other and back again in the sure belief that both really exit. Another quality that makes him especially lovable to me is the directnesss of his approach. Max doesn't silly-shally about. He get to the heart of the matter with the speed of a superject, a personality trait that is happily suited ot the necessary visual simplicity of a picture book (152).

Where the Wild Things Are was not meant to please everybody--only children. A letter from a seven-year-old boy encourages me to think that I have reached children as I had hoped. He wrote: "How much does it cost to get to where the wild things are? If it is not expensive my sister and I want to spend the summer there. Please answer soon." I did not answer that question, for I have no doubt that sooner or later they will find their way, free of charge (154-55).

As a collection of essays, Caldecott & Co. is rather haphazard, but Sendak is such a passionate artist that the presentation can be forgiven. Besides Sendak's insights into his own works, his opinions of other illustrators are interesting to say the least, ranging from contemptuous to sycophantic.