Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Kenny's Window by Maurice Sendak 7 Best Maurice Sendak Books You’ve Probably Never Heard Of. Beyond The Wild Things is a treasure trove of other illustrated masterpieces. EMAIL SHARE. Most likely, Where the Wild Things Are, by author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, is hanging out in your kids’ room right now. It’s one of the most popular children’s books of all time, it’s sold over seventeen million copies, and truly, it’s the stuff childhood dreams (and more than a few nightmares) are made of. If this is the only Maurice Sendak book sitting on your shelf though, something’s got to change. We’re big fans of the late Sendak here at Fatherly , not just for his gritty writing and bonkers illustrations, but because he was kind of a badass, too. The thing that makes new generations of parents buy Wild Things almost sixty years after it was first published is the thing that should make you want to buy (or borrow) more of Sendak’s books: he writes just as much for parents as he does for kids. In fact, he really wishes you wouldn’t call him a children’s book writer. “I don’t write for children,” he said in his final interview, “I write, and somebody says, ‘That’s for children!’” So whether you get these seven amazing Maurice Sendak books for your kids or just for you, it doesn’t matter; just go get them. Outside Over There, 1981. If you loved Jim Hensons’ movie from the late eighties, Labyrinth, you have Sendak to thank. Outside Over There is basically just the plot of the Labyrinth, sans Bowie in tight pants. Rumor has it Sendak wasn’t super thrilled that his long-time buddy Henson kind of stole his story, and even threatened legal action as Labyrinth was in production. Henson changed the name of the creepy red and orange creatures who can exchange heads from “wild things” to “fireys”, and begrudgingly thanked Sendak in the credits. Long story short, Outside Over There is fantastic, it’s Sendak’s favorite book he ever made, and you should probably go read it and then watch the Labyrinth to compare and contrast. Little Bear 1957-1968, Written by Else Holmelund Minaik. Sendak paired with writer Else Holmelund Minarik to illustrate these five short Little Bear books: Little Bear, Father Comes Home, Little Bear’s Friend, Little Bear’s Visit, and A Kiss for Little Bear. The Little Bear series is a tamer beast than Sendak’s usual works, both in the simplicity of Minarik’s stories and in the sweetness of Sendak’s illustrations. Even so, these books are quintessential childhood material, and especially wonderful for little kids stringing together their first words. Kenny's Window, 1956. A little boy named Kenny has a dream about a beautiful tree with the sun on one side, the moon on another. He wakes up and tries to get back into the dream, wishing to visit this place again. A rooster gives him seven riddles he needs to answer in order to do so. This is Sendak’s first book, published when he was only 28. While his artistic style is more simplified than in his later works, and his writing is a little more round-around (that freaking rooster needs to edit down his riddles to like, three) Kenny's Window is absolutely worth your time. This book is full of philosophical gems and trippy questions that get you thinking about your life in all the right ways, like “do you always want what you think you want?” Plus, the ending will give you goosebumps. The Animal Family 1965, Written by Randall Jarrell. The Animal Family was written by esteemed poet, author, and feared literary critic Randall Jarrel, and lovingly “decorated” by Sendak. Together, they made a book that feels like coming home after a long time away. The Animal Family is about a hunter who lives a lonely but peaceful life in a cabin in the woods on the edge of the sea. He’s visited by a mermaid, who decides to live with him in the cabin. The hunter finds (steals? this part’s kind of creepy) other animals and a little boy and together with the mermaid, they create a makeshift family. If you have ever wished to be part of someone else’s family, or to live in a little cabin in the woods on the edge of the sea, this book’s for you. In the Night Kitchen, 1970. A young boy named Mickey dreams of a strange world where milk jugs and egg beaters replace skyscrapers, and three jolly bakers follow him around as he helps make a cake for the morning. Don’t overthink this one; sure, there are deep Holocaust themes if you want to look closer (the bakers have little Hitler mustaches and Mickey is almost baked alive in the oven. Most of Sendak's extended family died in concentration camps.) But you and your kiddo can totally enjoy Night Kitchen simply for the crazy illustrations and strangely addicting storyline. And, please, don’t be like the American Library Association and freak out that Mickey’s naked on some pages. If you don’t make a big deal out of it, your kid won’t either. Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months, 1962. First, go make a big batch of chicken soup with rice. Then, read this book while eating chicken soup with rice. Otherwise you’re just going to dream about it all night long and end up in an In The Night Kitchen-esque scenario. This short Maurice Sendak book is great for helping little kids learn their months and for inducing nostalgia in grownups. It has easy-peasy rhymes and ridiculously cute illustrations and, seriously, go make chicken soup with rice before reading this. Higglety Pigglety Pop Or There Must Be More to Life, 1967. What kid (or, let’s be honest, parent) hasn’t wanted to run away from time to time? Higgelty-Piggelty Pop! tells the story of Jennie (named and written in tribute for Sendak’s late dog), a terrier who leaves her extremely comfortable home in search of something more. The story can get a little funky and dark in places (a potted plant tries to get Jennie to stay, so she eats it, and a baby is left abandoned by its parents) but try to just go with it– it's part of what makes Sendak so good. If you like the book, check out the weird and wonderful live-action/animated short film of the same name, produced by Spike Jonze and Sendak himself. (Jennie the dog is voiced by Meryl Streep.) Kenny's Window. Kenny wakes up one night remembering the magical garden he's been dreaming about. A rooster gives him seven questions to answer, which stimulates him into awareness and maturity. He realizes that it is not necessary to discard a dream or hope because it cannot be achieved at the moment. Read More. Kenny wakes up one night remembering the magical garden he's been dreaming about. A rooster gives him seven questions to answer, which stimulates him into awareness and maturity. He realizes that it is not necessary to discard a dream or hope because it cannot be achieved at the moment. Read Less. All Copies ( 8 ) Softcover ( 4 ) Hardcover ( 4 ) Choose Edition ( 3 ) Book Details Seller Sort. 2002, HarperCollins Publishers. Edition: 2002, HarperCollins Publishers Hardcover, Good Details: ISBN: 0060287896 ISBN-13: 9780060287894 Pages: 64 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: 2002 Language: English Alibris ID: 16696774718 Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: €3,65. Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination. Seller's Description: Ex-Library copy with typical library marks and stamps. Dust jacket in good condition. Shelf and handling wear to cover and binding, with general signs of previous use. 1984 Harper Collins edition. Ex libris sticker on the front free page. Minor damage on the interior of the boards. Text and illustrations are clear of markings and notations. Binding is intact. Secure packaging for safe delivery. ► Contact This Seller. 2002, HarperCollins Publishers. Annandale, NJ, USA. Edition: 2002, HarperCollins Publishers Paperback, Good Details: ISBN: 0064432092 ISBN-13: 9780064432092 Pages: 64 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: 2004 Language: English Alibris ID: 16694168725 Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: €3,65 Trackable Expedited: €7,30. Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination. Seller's Description: Good. Fast shipping and order satisfaction guaranteed. A portion of your purchase benefits charities, First Aid and Fire Stations! ► Contact This Seller. 2002, HarperCollins Publishers. Edition: 2002, HarperCollins Publishers Paperback, New Available Copies: 2 Details: ISBN: 0064432092 ISBN-13: 9780064432092 Pages: 64 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: 2004 Language: English Alibris ID: 16612404526 Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: €3,65. Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination. Seller's Description: New. ► Contact This Seller. 2002, HarperCollins Publishers. Goring-By-Sea, WEST SUSSEX, UNITED KINGDOM. Edition: 2002, HarperCollins Publishers Paperback, Very Good Details: ISBN: 0064432092 ISBN-13: 9780064432092 Pages: 64 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: 2004 Language: English Alibris ID: 16634865585 Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: €3,65. Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination. Seller's Description: Sendak, Maurice. Very Good. Kenny's Window (Reading Rainbow) by Sendak, Maurice, 2004-02-17. Trade paperback (US). Picture book. Sewn binding. 64 p. Contains: Illustrations. Intended for a juvenile audience. ► Contact This Seller. 2002, HarperCollins Publishers. Newport Coast, CA, USA. Edition: 2002, HarperCollins Publishers Hardcover, Good Details: ISBN: 0060254947 ISBN-13: 9780060254940 Pages: 64 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: 1956 Language: English Alibris ID: 16624986948 Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: €3,65. Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination. Seller's Description: Good. ► Contact This Seller. 2002, HarperCollins Publishers. North Las Vegas, NV, USA. Edition: 2002, HarperCollins Publishers Paperback, New Details: ISBN: 0064432092 ISBN-13: 9780064432092 Pages: 64 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: 02/2004 Language: English Alibris ID: 16644894297 Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: €3,65. Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination. Seller's Description: New. New. ► Contact This Seller. 2002, HarperCollins Publishers. Rochester, NY, USA. Edition: 2002, HarperCollins Publishers Hardcover, Very Good Details: Pages: 64 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: 0 Language: English Alibris ID: 16349405848 Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: €3,65. Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination. Seller's Description: Sendak, Maurice. Near Fine in Near Fine jacket. Book. 8vo-over 7�"-9�" Tall Square. Unmarked, clean, and tight copy. Both book and dust jacket show very little shelf wear, dust jacket is price clipped. Printed c. 1970-1975. ► Contact This Seller. 2002, HarperCollins Publishers. Edition: 2002, HarperCollins Publishers Hardcover, New Details: ISBN: 0060287896 ISBN-13: 9780060287894 Pages: 64 Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Published: 2002 Language: English Alibris ID: 16623089224 Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: €3,65. Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination. Kenny's Window by Maurice Sendak. Dust jacket transcription: Back cover "Maurice Sendak was born and grew up in Brooklyn. After attending the Art Students League for two years, he did display work at F.A.O. SCHWARZ. Among the books illustrated by Mr. Sendak are A HOLE IS TO DIG, THE WHEEL ON THE SCHOOL, THE LITTLE COW AND THE TURTLE, THE GIANT STORY, A VERY SPECIAL HOUSE (runner up for the Caldecott Award in 1953), I’LL BE YOU AND YOU BE ME (listed by the New York Times as one of the ten outstanding children’s books of 1954 from the point of view of illustration), WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A SHOE, and CHARLOTTE AND THE WHITE HORSE. “The most important of Maurice Sendak’s several hobbies is collecting children’s books. In this collection are some delightful “books” written and illustrated by his students at a New York settlement house.” Spine Sendak KENNY’S WINDOW Harper. Jacket copy (not pictured) Kenny’s Window Story and pictures by Maurice Sendak. "This is the first book by the well-known illustrator of such books as A HOLE IS TO DIG, A VERY SPECIAL HOUE, and CHARLOTTE AND THE WHITE HORSE. "One night Kenny wakes up, and remembers a garden he has been dreaming about. It was a lovely garden, half filled with daylight and half with night. A rooster there gave him seven questions and told him to answer them. “And if I do,” asked Kenny, “may I come and live in the garden?” But before the rooster had time to reply. (continued on back flap) (continued from front flap) the dream was over and Kenny woke up. "One by one the questions from the dream are answered by Kenny. He has some help from his friends—from his dopg, from his two toy soldiers, and from Bucky, his Teddy Bear. But he finds the actual answers in himself. "In classic form of questions and answers, this is a deeply poignant, often funny story of a little boy growing up. When Kenny answers the questions, “Do you always want what you think you want?” he realizes that it is not necessary to discard a dream or hope because it is impossible to achieve at the moment. His awareness, his maturity, are developing. "The rich and appealing words and pictures form a perfect unity, and are completely at one with each other. Maurice Sendak’s first book will be loved and remembered by readers who are growing up, and by those who can look back on this wonderful period in their lives." Title page transcription: Kenny’s Window By Maurice Sendak Harper & Brothers, Publishers, New York. Title page verso transcription Kenny’s Window Copyright © 1956, by Maurice Sendak Printed in the United States of America All rights in this book are reserved. No part of the book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written per- mission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Harper & Brothers 49 East 33rd Street, New York 16, N.Y. Library of Congress catalog card number: 56-5148. Size Horizontal: 7 ¾” Vertical: 9 ¼” Width: 1.2 cm. Font Font typeface/name: A variation on Latin Elongated Size: .5 cm. Pages The 1st edition of Kenny's Window is unpaginated. It numbers by manual count at 52 pages. Physical presentation of text Text blocks vary in size throughout Kenny’s Window. Sendak likes whole page blocks of text (usually on the left page) and uses these often throughout the book. When he does, the block text measures at 16.5 cm. But, he also frequently uses half-page blocks of text to accommodate illustrations that either float above or below each block of text. These half-page blocks measure at 8 cm. But, there is great variation in the blocks of text throughout the book as Sendak places illustrations in margins, bottom corners and other unique placements that affect the blocks of text. The font is large throughout the book and quite easy to read. The text is not particularly attractive, but each chapter begins with a hand-drawn title written in cursive. These titles diversify the look of the text and blend in well with the illustrations. Well-printed throughout: Crisp, clear. Paper Paper is durable and of a thickness that prevents bleed through. It seems to be of thick, slightly rough stock (not slick) and does not appear to be yellowing. Number and extent of illustrations Including book cover and title pages, Kenny’s Window has 36 illustrations. These appear to be almost entirely in pen and ink with some use of pencil and, I believe, water color paints. The presentation of the illustrations throughout varies greatly. Some illustrations seem to hide behind text or bleed under the text, some span two pages so that a character up above the right-hand page text is looking down at a character at the bottom of the left page. Some pages make the text look like they are presented on a board framed in the middle of the illustrations. Size varies throughout. Illustrative medium Pen and ink. Watercolor. Pencil. Possibly charcoal. Manuscript holdings Rosenbach Museum Until 2014, Sendak’s papers, artwork and original manuscripts were collected nearly exclusively at the Rosenbach Museum of the Free Library of Philadelphia. According to their website, “After his initial visit here in 1966—and thanks to a kinship the artist felt with the rare books and artwork collected by the Rosenbach brothers—Sendak began to leave his artwork for such books as Where the Wild Things Are (1963), In the Night Kitchen (1970), and Outside Over There (1981) on deposit at the Rosenbach where they were regularly exhibited to the public and accessible to researchers. The deposit comprised more than 10,000 pieces of original artwork, as well as manuscripts, dummy books, correspondence, printer’s proofs and other working materials, plus first editions of Sendak’s books.” At the end of 2014, Sendak’s entire collection was transferred from the Rosenbach to Sendak’s estate, the sole owner. It is unclear how this invaluable collection will be preserved and archived. More on the transfer from the Rosenbach: http://articles.philly.com/2014-09-15/news/53908526_1_rosenbach- museum-the-rosenbach-maurice-sendak-collection. University of Minnesota Libraries Children's Literature Research Collections The extensive Kerlan Collection of the University of Minnesota Children's Literature Research library currently " contains production materials for 21 titles (including Kenny's Window ) published between 1951- 1965, an illustration for a Robert Frost poem contained in a book of children's literature published in 1958, some miscellaneous art work, including studies for Esquire magazine, an ink and watercolor study inscribed for Irvin Kerlan, and a study for a version of Oscar Wild's The Happy Prince, not verified as published. The collection contains studies done in a variety of media, proofs, a dummy, a signed lithograph, and typescripts, notes, and galley proofs." Other production materials include drafts, sketches and proofs from A Hole Is To Dig, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm, and I Want To Paint My Bathroom Blue. Kenny's Window by Maurice Sendak. Initial reactions Initial critical reception to Kenny’s Window was fairly brief and accepting. The reviews I was able to view were generally appreciative of the gentle, simple art and the strange, fantastical story with many of them noting that the writing is uniquely poetic. Interest seemed almost to be more focused on the fact that this was the first work written and illustrated by an artist whose work fans of children’s literature had grown accustomed to in books like A Hole is to Dig! and other popular titles Sendak illustrated during the early 1950s. Polly Goodwin’s Chicago Daily Tribune review in June, 1956 seemed to understand the art better than contemporary writers when she said that it complemented the “fanciful” story nicely without overwhelming it. Several reviews point out that it is a deep book that will only be enjoyed by children with more sensitive souls. One review in. Despite favorable reviews that identify the book as beautiful, poetic, gentle and deep, my impression is that Kenny's Window did not sell terribly well. It has, however, remained in print. This may due more to Sendak’s popularity than general regard for the book. Contemporary reactions There are few contemporary reactions to Kenny’s Window available to the reader beyond brief mentions in otherwise lengthy biographical essays and books about Sendak. Selma G. Lanes’ 1987 Horn Book essay, “A Second Look: Kenny’s Window ” is a piece that, while tending to agree with Sendak that the book is overwritten and poorly illustrated, astutely identifies Kenny’s Window as a kind of rough, raw, and deep work of artful spelunking by Sendak, one in which Sendak gathered all the psychological themes, actions and settings that would preoccupy his later famous works. “Sendak,” she writes, “had found the prototype of his first hero: Kenny would be a normal, but intensely introspective child.” She goes on: “Sendak had also found the subject that was to engage his talent and sensibility from that time on: children who, in his words, ‘are held back by life, but, one way or other, manage miraculously to find release from their troubles.’” Lanes describes Kenny’s Window as a work indebted to Sendak’s burgeoning interest in psychoanalysis (which Sendak underwent throughout his adult life) and its revelations about childhood. She compares the book to The Little Prince in its use of whimsy and fantasy, but points out that Sendak uses these elements to “reveal small, large, and occasionally painful, truths.” The work, she continues, launches moments, settings, and emotional actions that will return soon in more accomplished forms in Higglety Pigglety Pop!, The Sign on Rosie’s Door, and Where the Wild Things Are. It’s important, she writes in The Art of Maurice Sendak, because “ Kenny’s Window distills much of the emotional climate of Sendak’s own childhood with his deep attachment to particular toys and his fantasizing about them during long hours of solitary play while convalescing from various illnesses.” She goes on to note, “If there is an overall theme in Kenny’s Window , it is a highly ambitious one for a young author’s first book: it deals with nothing less than the child’s struggle to integrate his fantasies and fears with real-life experience; to have faith in his dreams and thereby gain mastery over the circumstances of his life.” (I should note that I think this final comment is incredibly accurate – this is precisely why I love this book and feel a deep attachment to it). Barbara Bader, writing about Kenny's Window in her excellent reference book, American Picturebooks From Noah's Ark to The Beast Within , argues that the book represents not only an important work in the development of Sendak as an artist, but a turning point in the history of children's literature: "We have seen authors writing reminiscence (Helen Sewell's A Head for Happy , Leo Politi's Little Leo ); we have seen them writing for, and apropos of, a particular child; more recently we saw in Charlotte Zolotow and Russell Hoban (pre- and post-Sendak) authors writing percipiently about their own children. But to write about how one felt as a child was something new - as if Kenneth, grown to understand himself, were writing about Kenny," (Bader, p.506). Although there were certainly scattered examples of books for children in which authors mined their own childhood feelings to write their stories previous to Kenny's Window , Bader's point is salient: after 1956 we begin to increasingly see in books like those by Ezra Jack Keats and Louise Fitzhugh an exploration of emotions and the psyche perhaps not so common - or vulnerable and raw - as before. Bader is also one of the few writers to assess Kenny's Window through the lens of having read Dorothy Baruch's study, One Little Boy, which Sendak had read . Any analysis of Kenny's Window must account for the parallels between Sendak's book and Baruch's study. They are striking. One Little Boy is that rare beautifully written psychoanalytic study that is hard to put down. It tells the story of young Kenneth's therapy with Baruch, the sensitive child's hurt at being emotionally neglected by his unhappy parents, and the healing the boy finds in accessing through play the deep, primal emotions he is rarely allowed to feel at home. Sendak was clearly inspired by Kenneth's story, using his example to create in Kenny a boy with explosive emotions, raw sensitivity, and a transporting imagination. Sendak must have certainly felt a kinship with the lonely boy of Baruch's study. Bader agrees, writing that "with hindsight (One Little Boy) seems to have been written for Maurice Sendak, who drew from it the idea for his first book," (Bader, p.504). But, while Bader struggles with how much we should view the hero of Sendak's book as a doppelgänger for the boy in Baruch's study , s he ultimately makes the case that Kenny's Window reads like a sophisticated artistic response to One Little Boy : ". The seven episodes that answer the questions for Kenny deal figuratively with yearnings or fears that Kenneth confronts and comes to terms with in the course of his therapy; that when they are completed Kenny no longer wants to live in the magic garden, as Kenneth, no longer fearful of himself or of others, need not take refuge in asthma, failure, or being a baby again; that both have the trust to look ahead, to put confidence in wishes and hopes. A wish, says the rooster, 'is halfway to wherever you want to go.'" Jennifer R. Waller, writing in 1977 for Children’s Literature , compares Sendak’s work to that of one of his central inspirations, William Blake, and sees the "questions" in the book in a different light. She writes that Kenny’s Window recalls in its depth and structure one of Blake’s most famous works: “ like the questioner in Innocence and Experience , Kenny sometimes receives only half-answers or answers which are truer to feeling than they are to logic.” Jean Perrot, writing for the same journal in 1990, makes a compelling case for Sendak’s debt to artist Marc Chagall as evinced by the Kenny, the “moony dreamer.” Across these three more scholarly contemporary reactions is a respect for the depth of Kenny’s Window and its crucial developmental place in Sendak’s oeuvre. Personal reaction Kenny’s Window is the book in which Maurice Sendak hit a personal nerve he’d continue to jab, press, and pull to the conscious surface across his great career. It is a deep work of art that begs to be read again. Though will forever be eclipsed by Sendak's more famous works like Where the Wild Things Are and In The Night Kitchen, those readers who can approach the text on its own terms will be rewarded. In my library work, I occasionally encourage parents who want insights into their child’s behavior to skip the parenting guides and read good children’s fiction instead. Kenny’s Window is a testament to the vital importance of unstructured, imaginative play. Behind Kenny’s door, where the boy plays with toys alone, friendships are won, broken, and mended; discipline and punishments are meted out; negotiations are enacted; apologies and forgiveness are given; help is secured; great, perilous distances are traveled by train; longings for a warmer, less confusing world throb; boredom creeps in; a toy soldier nearly dies; unconscious dream-riddles are solved; waves of fury, resentment, guilt and sadness crash through; love, friendship and kindness rise repeatedly to the fore. In these long, unsupervised bouts of seemingly lonely make-believe – play that starts one morning after a dream – Kenny can process all the serious, baffling, silly, contradictory, hypocritical, scary, and powerful elements of the adult world that he, like all children, both perceives and sees. And while his unconscious roams freely, he is safe. But, that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Midway through the book, Kenny experiences a gust of rage so great he nearly kills one of his toy soldiers. Young children’s literature is thin on vivid scenes depicting intense emotions, especially anger. They’re out there, for sure: Angelina Ballerina and the New Baby by Katherine Hollabird has a scene in which young mouse Angelina, hurt and neglected due to the hubbub ensuing after the arrival of a new baby in her house, flies into a rage and destroys her room. In the process, she smashes a prized object she was hoping to show to her grandparents. That book is remarkable – and exceptional – for depicting a little girl’s feelings of extreme anger. Similarly, in the rage scene in Kenny’s Window, Kenny nearly “kills” a toy he has imbued with life via make-believe. Both depict a primal emotion, one rarely seen in books for young children. In Where the Wild Things Are, Max’s imagination is spurred after being punished by his mother for acting out. Kenny, conversely, reacts to situations, scenarios, conflicts entirely created within his mind while he’s alone. One gets the feeling that he’s reacting to emotions and confusions he’s accumulated inside – baffling comments adults have said to him, upsetting conflicts with friends his own age, and bizarre contradictory occurrences he’s observed in the world around him. This aloneness we view in the book gives the reader the sense of stepping inside Kenny’s psyche and witnessing a very intimate, personal moment of freedom and exploration. In Wild Things, which, as I mentioned above, I do not believe could have been written without the sheer unconscious artistic excavation that Sendak achieved to create Kenny’s Window , Max's make-believe is initiated by a punishment. His make-believe culminates in him dominating his ferocious subjects - he is their king - and going wild. It's a wonderful, nearly perfect picture book deserving of its “classic” label, but Kenny's Window shows in a way Wild Things doesn’t how in a child’s world of make- believe there can be long bouts of uncertainty, guilt, and regret – scary emotions – that open up, finally, into love and joy. It's a more nuanced – and potentially truer – portrait of the child working through the huge emotions and fears of his daily life. Some of Sendak's later works like Outside Over There, We Are All in the Dumps With Jack and Guy, Bumble-Ardy , and Dear Mili (which was written by Wilhelm Grimm) build on Sendak’s interest in the unconscious and deal with terrifying, complex and variegated experiences of childhood, too: homelessness, what it’s like to be raised by depressed or absent parents, and kidnapping. Unfortunately, these books, like Kenny’s Window, aren’t commonly known (at least in my experience as a youth librarian). I know few parents who have even heard of these books, let alone read them aloud to their kids, even though the books are critically acclaimed. There is permeability between the dream world and Kenny’s solitary imaginative play that feels true and real and seems to get at the vulnerability and openness of children and their psyches. That can be uncomfortable for the reader. Kenny’s Window is an expression inspired by this openness to the unconscious. It is ultimately a testament to the crucial importance of unstructured imaginative play: that it's here, alone in a room with a few toys, that a child works through feelings of rage, betrayal, sadness, joy, love, confusion and other emotions - and play is how a child learns to be him or herself, how to exist in the world, how to grow. Through the intensity of it all, crucially, he stays safe. It’s just play. Sources. Bader, Barbara. American Picturebooks from Noah's Ark to The Beast Within. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. 1976. Lanes, Selma G. "A Second Look: “Kenny's Window”." Horn Book Magazine 63. (March, 1987): 192-195. Waller, Jennifer R. "Maurice Sendak and the Blakean vision of childhood." Children's Literature 6.1 (1977): 130-140. Kenny's Window by Maurice Sendak. Promotion/Pairings Kenny’s Window was paired with other Harper children’s books published in 1956 in those display ads in Chicago Daily Tribune and Publisher’s Weekly . In the Tribune , it is visually paired with the books, The Silver Nutmeg by Palmer Brown, A Tree Is Nice by Janet May Udry, and The Indianopolis 500 by Brock W. Yates. There does not seem to be a thematic or formal reason for this visual pairing ( Kenny’s Window is included with these three other books in a vertically-standing rectangle on the left side of the ad). Notable books in the Tribune ad, which was a two page spread, include, Harold’s Fairy Tale by Crocket Johnson (who was an early supporter of Sendak) and Three Little Animals by Margaret Wise Brown and Garth Williams. The Publisher’s Weekly ad shows Kenny’s Window in a stand-alone square at the top of the page and includes an illustration from the book of Kenny standing and looking out the window. Opposite from the Kenny ad is a square promoting a book by Ruth Krauss, an early and ongoing collaborator with Sendak throughout the 1950s. Performances in other media Sendak, Maurice, read by Tammy Grimes. Maurice Sendak Soundbook . New York: Caedmon, 1976, 1981. Cassette tape. Sendak, Maurice, read by Tammy Grimes. Kenny’s Window . Spoken Sendak, vol. 3. Caedmon, 1977. Cassette tape. Sendak, Maurice, read by Tammy Grimes. Kenny’s Window . Spoken Sendak, vol. 3. Caedmon, 1977. LP recording. Sendak, Maurice. Kenny’s Window. New York: HarperCollins, 1984. Computer file. Sendak, Maurice, read by Tammy Grimes. Maurice Sendak Audio Collection . New York: Caedmon, 1992. Cassette tape. Translation German: Hamburg: Aladin Verlag, 2013. (Published as Kennys Fenster) Other fact of note Sendak illustrated new Kenny’s Window art for the covers of the audiobook LP recording and cassette tape. The new cover, pictured below, is colorful, ornate and detailed in ways the original book is not. Sendak has reported that he considers the art for the original book “ghastly” and primitive, so one wonders if this was an attempt to represent the book in a way of which he could be proud. And Sendak may have intended to re-illustrate the book when it was only a decade old: In a letter to Sendak dated March 18, 1966, Ursula Nordstrom asks, ". Didn't you want to do new pictures for Kenny's Window ? Or did I dream that? It seems to me you said you'd like to re-do the whole book sometime. Tell me if I'm wrong," (Nordstrom, p. 218). The below image hints at how wondrous a re-illustrated and re-issued Kenny's Window could have been. Sources. Display Ad 218 -- No Title. Chicago Daily Tribune (1923-1963) [Chicago, Ill] 11 Nov 1956: f12. Nordstrom, Ursula. Letter to Maurice Sendak, 18 March, 1966. Dear Genius: The Letters of Ursula Nordstrom, ed. Leonard Marcus. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1998. 218. Print. Publisher's Weekly , vol. 169, #6 (Feb. 11, 1956), p. 835.