Maurice Sendak, Author Of ?Where The Wild Things Are,? Dies At 83

Children's author and illustrator Maurice Sendak died early Tuesday morning at the age of 83, reports the New York Times. Sendak is best known for his books Where The Wild Things Are, and In The Night Kitchen. He died in Danbury, Conn., from complications of a recent stroke.

Sendak was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on June 10, 1928. Wildly creative from the start, Sendak was a window dresser at F.A.O. Schwartz in 1948 while he took classes at the New York Art Students League, PBS states in a biography. During this time the future author and illustrator found work illustrating Marcel Ayme's The Wonderful Farm, and Ruth Krauss's A Hole Is To Dig.

In the 1950s, Sendak left the famed toy store to begin regularly illustrating children's books. By 1963, Where The Wild Things Are brought the artist and illustrator into the spotlight. The book won Sendak the Caldecott Medal, which the New York Times compares to winning a Pulitzer Prize for children's books. According to PBS, Sendak was one of the world's greatest illustrators.

After a 30-year hiatus from producing both text and illustrations, Maurice Sendak released Bumble-Ardy in September. The picture book was about a 9-year-old pig that plans on throwing a big birthday celebration at his aunt's house while she's away. Bumble-Ardy spent five weeks on the New York Times children's best-seller list.

The New York Times reports that another Sendak book will be hitting the shelves next February. The book, inspired by his deceased brother Jack, is properly named, My Brother's Book.