Hmmm... What was Sendak thinking about when he created WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE?

A few months ago, a reader sent me a link that she'd know I'd be interested in... to an auction site that was auctioning a framed collage (collage might not be the right word) of three items. Here's the framed item, titled by the auction house "Sendak Drawing on Wild Things Proof Sheet W/Photograph."

Here's the unedited description from the auction house (retrieved today, Oct 2 2018):

Rare 1963 original ink drawing with added personal photograph on the promotion proof sheet for the first edition of "Where The Wild Things Are", signed and illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

Original colored photograph was taken during The Childrens Book Confrence, University of Utah, Park City, Utah-1960 of Sendak with Morton Schindel (of Western Woods) and possibly Tomi Ungerer.

Original ink sketch and inscription by Sendak of Indian boy with feather inscribed and signed twice by Maurice Sendak.

*Photograph reveals a feather on each of the artist's heads.

The photograph of a young Morton Schindel (Weston Woods). Maurice Sendak and (believed to be) Tomi Ungerer.

Why each figure has a feather standing in their hair is unknown, but mimicked in Sendak's ink drawing of an Indian also with a single feather.

This proof sheet for WILD THINGS comes from the original first printing of the book (1963) as Sendak would have wanted to show off his latest project to Morton Schindel (Weston Woods).

Note the slight off registry along the bottom edge of the Wild Things image which was one of the initial problems Harper & Row had in printing the earliest known copies.

Here's an enlarged look at that end of the framed item:

And here's a blow up of the photo:

Fascinating, isn't it? If a scholar of Sendak's work finds additional information about this, I'd love to see it! What was Sendak thinking? What do you think about it? 

Maurice Sendak's BUMBLE-ARDY

From the children's lit community to the Wall Street Journal, people are talking about Maurice Sendak's new book, Bumble-Ardy. Some readers like it, while others do not. Sendak first introduced the main character on a clip on Sesame Street years ago. In the clip, Bumble-Ardy is a nine year old boy has a birthday party at his house.

In the book, Sendak changes Bumble-Ardy into a pig, and when the pigs come to his house, it is by an invitation from Bumble-Ardy in which he says they must come in costume.

A few days ago, friend and colleague Thomas Crisp wrote to let me know that Sendak's illustrations in Bumble-Ardy include a character whose costume is of the playing-Indian type. Here's a close up:

That is from the first time we see that character.  Many things to comment on, but let's stick with the costumes. Below is the full two-page spread when we first see the pigs in costume.

Help me figure out who or what they are! (I apologize for the overlap of the photo into the right column... If you want to see an even larger image, click on the photo. It should open just the photo in a new page.) Some of the pigs are wearing masks that cover their pig face; others do not wear masks. To varying degrees, they are just plain ridiculous.

If you've got some ideas and time to share them, write to me by using the "Contact AICL" button in the tool bar above, the comment box below, or by email.

 From left to right:

 1.  Clown, no mask
 2.  Kind of reminds me of Groucho Marx, but no mustache. He is holding a balloon.
 3.  Wearing a skirt and an orange sweater, but that mask?!
 4.  Disheveled man with a cigar
 5.  Lost pig (holding sign), no mask
 6.  Rich lady (mask) and little pig (no mask)
 7.  Pirate
 8.  Pig-in-a-blanket
 9.  Like #3, I can't figure this one out. Wearing a dress but what is up with that mask?
10. Tiara and eye mask... (being ridden by #9)
11.  Indian
12.  Bearded policeman, no mask. What does that beard signify?
13.  Court jester, no mask

Once I get a better idea of who the characters are dressed as, we can go on to do some analysis of the costuming.

By the way, Sendek is an old-hand, so to speak, at stereotyping American Indians. Remember his alphabet book, Alligator's All Around? The "Imitating Indians" page? The book was first published in 1962 by Harper and Row as one of four books packaged as "The Nutshell Library."

On the I page, we see two alligators who, the text tells us, are "Imitating Indians." There are many problems with the page. First, imagine what the response would be if the alligators were imitating a different racial or ethnic group! Second, most readers of AICL know that the word "Indian" obscures the diversity that exists across the over 500 American Indian Nations in the U.S. today.  Third, the page suggests that Indians wear multi-colored feathered headdresses, and carry tomahawks and smoke peace pipes. And of course, they do that and everything else with stern or stoic expressions. And, let's not forget that they raise an arm to say "how" (cuz that's how Indians say hello... NOT).

Sadly for us all, Sendak is still giving us stereotyped Indians.