
He was the first American to receive this highest honor in children’s book publishing. In 1970, he won the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for the body of his illustrated work. Sendak has illustrated some ninety children’s books. Sendak has said the three works are about “how children manage to get through childhood…how they defeat boredom, worries and fear, and find joy.” The latter received a 1982 American Book Award.

He later wrote and illustrated two companion books: In the Night Kitchen (1970) and Outside Over There (1981). He won the 1964 Caldecott Medal for this book. Sendak’s ability to remember the sounds and feelings of particular childhood moments were demonstrated in his best-known work, Where the Wild Things Are (1963). These children were represented in A Hole Is to Dig (1952), a book by Ruth Kraus that brought Sendak his first fame. As a teen he spent many hours sketching neighborhood children as they played. But he mainly learned about his profession on his own. Sendak went to art school for a short time. They then illustrated them and bound them into little books.

As a boy, Sendak and his older brother used to write stories. Illustrator and writer Maurice Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 10, 1928. And by the “year’s end,” readers are convinced that all seasons / of the year / are nice / for eating / chicken soup / with rice!Īn excellent read-aloud, demonstrating the progression of the year, seasons, and the power of poetry. Each rhyme is introduced with a decorative bar, framing the name of each month like a calendar. Likewise, his illustrations here in Chicken Soup with Rice are, as always, playful and witty. In this tiny volume, first published in 1962, the inimitable Maurice Sendak demonstrates his famous ear for language, rhythm, and word play and anticipates the strengths of his later children’s classics such as Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen. Even in the peak of the sultry summer: In August / it will be so hot / I will become / a cooking pot / cooking soup of course / Why not? / Cooking once / cooking twice / cooking chicken soup / with rice. Although the book starts in the middle of winter - presumably the best time for chicken soup - a case is made for the presence of chicken soup in every season. Written and illustrated by Maurice SendakĬollected in this charming book are twelve lilting rhymes and illustrations for the twelve months of the year, with chicken soup as their universal theme. LIKE IT? PIN IT!ĪBOUT ‘CHICKEN SOUP WITH RICE: A BOOK OF MONTHS’ The rhyming book can be found on its own, or as a part of Sendak’s classic Nutshell Library which contains three additional titles Alligators All Around, One Was Johnny, and Pierre. KidLit TV host Rocco Staino reads Maurice Sendak’s Chicken Soup with Rice on Read Out Loud.
