One of the most famous creators of contemporary children’s books, Maurice Sendak has challenged the norms of children’s literature over time and continues to entrance both children and adults to this day. The “Where the Wild Things Are” author and illustrator chose the Rosenbach Museum and Library to be the repository for his work in the early 1970s. His innovative techniques and honest portrayal of childhood emotion are celebrated worldwide and have earned him several prestigious honors, including the Caldecott Medal (1964), the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal (1970), the National Medal of Arts (1996), a Library of Congress “Living Legend” medal (2000) and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature (2003). The 83-year-old author’s collection of nearly 10,000 works of art, manuscripts, books and ephemera has been the subject of many exhibitions, including the current “Pen to Publisher: The Life of Three Sendak Picture Books.”

This two-gallery exhibition explores the life cycle of three Sendak books from inception to publication: “The Sign on Rosie’s Door” (1960), “Outside Over There” (1981) and “Brundibar” (2003). Covering more than 40 years, each of these books was inspired and produced in radically different ways, collectively revealing how Sendak pursued and preserved a core idea or character through his own artistic refinements and changing publishing techniques and technologies.

In the Sendak Gallery on the Rosenbach’s first floor, viewers can investigate Sendak’s earliest creative impulses with each book through hastily scribbled notes and manuscripts to dummy books and sketches. In the second floor’s Gallery 1, the artist’s final work — and materials that detail how it was reproduced, corrected, printed, bound and publicized — will be on display.

“Pen to Publisher: The Life of Three Sendak Picture Books” runs through July 15 at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, 2008–2010 Delancey Place. The Museum is closed Mondays and National Holidays. For more information, call (215) 732-1600 or visit www.rosenbach.org.

Contact staff writer Bobbi Booker at (215) 893-5749 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .