Maurice Sendak, creator of the children's all time classic
"Where the Wild Things Are", died today at the age of 83. 

He was widely
considered the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century.
Largely a self-taught illustrator, his visual style could range from
intricately crosshatched scenes that recalled 19th-century prints to airy
watercolors reminiscent of Chagall to bold, bulbous figures inspired by the
comic books he loved all his life, with outsize feet that the page could scarcely
contain. He never did learn to draw feet, he often said.

In 1964, the American
Library Association awarded Mr. Sendak the Caldecott Medal, considered the
Pulitzer Prize of children’s book illustration, for “Where the Wild Things
Are.” In simple, incantatory language, the book told the story of Max, a
naughty boy who rages at his mother and is sent to his room without
supper. 

...he
stared into all of their yellow eyes without blinking once and they were
frightened and called him the most wild thing of all and made him king of all
of the wild things.

"And
now", cried Max, "Let
the Wild Rumpus Start!"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/books/maurice-sendak-childrens-author-dies-at-83.html