Sendak's lasting contribution to the literature of childhood is evidenced by the critical acclaim his work has received. In addition to numerous other honors, Sendak has been presented three of the most important international awards for excellence in children's book illustration: the Caldecott Medal in 1964 for Where the Wild Things Are , the Hans Christian Andersen Award (1970), and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal (1983) for the body of his work.
Sendak has said that if he has an unusual gift, it is not that he draws or writes better than other artists but that he has the ability to recall the emotional quality of specific moments in childhood. Given this reflection, a consideration of the nature of Sendak's childhood is especially important to an understanding of his art. Maurice Bernard Sendak was born on 10 June 1928, in Brooklyn, New York. His parents, Philip and Sarah Schindler Sendak, were both Polish immigrants who had come to New York from small Jewish villages outside Warsaw before World War I. His sister Natalie was nine and his brother Jack was five when he was born.
Undoubtedly one of the major influences which shaped his childhood was the experience of being a first-generation American.
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