Maurice Sendak School: Author Memorialized In NYC

Maurice Sendak will be memorialized with a New York City public school named in his honor.

A Brooklyn native, Sendak was a Caldecott Medal winning author and illustrator of children’s literature. His most beloved work, Where the Wild Things Are, was published in 1963. He remained relevant to the genre until his death in May 2012 at the age of 83.

The Huffington Post writes that a public school in Park Slope, Brooklyn will be named the Maurice Sendak Community School. PS 118 made the announcement on its parents’ website on February 8th, sparking excitement among students.

Debra Wexler, parent of a future PS 118 student, was delighted by the news:

“My 4.5-year-old daughter is a little anxious about transitioning to kindergarten, but when I told her the news about the name, she immediately was excited about it. It’s so great that the school will be named for someone that even the youngest students know and love.”

The announcement on PS 118’s website reads in part:

“PS 118 has been named the Maurice Sendak Community School after author-illustrator Maurice Sendak. Sendak’s creativity and innovation changed the face of illustrated children’s literature with books such as Where the Wild Things Are (Winner of the Caledecott Medal), In the Night Kitchen, and The Nutshell Library. We are thrilled to honor a great Brooklyn native and in doing so, we hope to inspire our children to find their own creative expression.”

According to The New York Daily News, this will be the second time that a school has honored Sendak. A California district also named the Maurice Sendak Elementary School for the author prior to his death.

The Maurice Sendak Community School is scheduled to open in September with 50 students.