As a child one of my favorite books was Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. In the book, a boy named Max is sent to his room without supper because he wore a wolf costume to dinner and growled at his mother. But once in his room Max's wild imagination makes a mysterious forest and sea grow, and soon he is sailing to the land of the Wild Things, which is inhabited by fearsome looking monsters. Max dances with the monsters and eventually becomes their king - until he begins to feel lonely and returns to his bedroom, where he finds a hot supper waiting for him. The twenty-page book consists of only nine sentences, but the accompanying illustrations are so enchanting that Where the Wild Things Are is regarded as one of the masterpieces of American children's literature.
A new exhibit at the San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum showcases Sendak's artwork and also explores his heritage, which as it so happens, is Jewish. Sendak was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 10, 1928 to Polish-Jewish immigrant parents. He was a sickly child who spent most of his time indoors and eventually began drawing as a way to express his imagination. Over time he began incorporating family history into his artwork, touching upon the loss of relatives in Poland during the Holocaust and his father's tales about shtetl life. One example of this interplay between Sendak's family history and art can be seen in his drawings for the book In Grandpa's House, which was based on his father's stories.
As you've probably heard, film director Spike Jonze recently made the book into a movie. I can't decide if I want to see it since often films are unable to live up to the images I have in my mind... but I'm tempted. Sendak himself helped produce the film and an endorsement like that is hard to pass up.
If you would like to learn more about Sendak's Jewish heritage The Forward has a great article about it here. Also, check out the San Francisco Contemporary Jewish Museum's exhibition page, which includes several examples of Sendak's work.