Let the wild rumpus begin

When I first started teaching, I was part of a literature selection committee in my district to select children’s trade books for what would then be the use of authentic literature and a whole language approach to reading. Two books that took my breath away were Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are and Ed Young’s Lon Po Po. “That’s what I want to be—an illustrator.” Arne Nixon, from Fresno State, was a wonderful storyteller who told the story of Max and his wild rumpus. He and the story were inspiring.

Three years later I moved to San Francisco to go to the Academy of Art to become a children’s book illustrator. He told the truth to children, in order that they might have courage to confront life in its fullness. He was a mentor. Later I found out he was gay, but somehow it affirmed who he was.

Good night, Mr. Sendak.

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