Sendak Releases New Picture Book This Fall
RSSBy SLJ Staff
Maurice Sendak, best known for his Caldecott-winning Where the Wild Things Are, is about to release a long-waited picture book, Bumble-Ardy (HarperCollins), the first one he's illustrated and written since Outside Over There in 1981. "We are thrilled to be publishing Maurice Sendak's Bumble-Ardy," says Susan Katz, president and publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books. "Generations have grown up with his books, and this new picture book is a true testament to Maurice's matchless ability to delight, entertain, and surprise us with everyone." With a career that has spanned more than 60 years, Sendak's books have sold nearly 30 million copies in the U.S. and have been translated into more than 30 languages. He received the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are and is the creator of such classics as In the Night Kitchen, Outside Over There, Higglety Pigglety Pop! and Nutshell Library. Sendak is the 1970 winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration, in 1983 he won the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, and in 1996 he received a National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution to the arts in America. In 2003, Sendak received the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an annual international prize for children's literature established by the Swedish government. Bumble-Ardy will have a first printing of 500,000 copies.
Set to go on sale September 6, Bumble-Ardy evolved from an animated segment for Sesame Street that aired in the early 1970s. It's about a mischievous pig who has reached the age of nine without ever having a birthday party. But all that changes when Bumble throws a party for himself and invites all his friends, leading to a wild masquerade that quickly gets out of hand.
