Angels and wild things : the archetypal poetics of Maurice Sendak / John Cech.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1 Children of the streets and the clouds: variations on an archetypal theme. 2 Rosie. 3 Johnny, Pierre, and the gang: in a nutshell. 4 Max, wild things, and the shadows of childhood. 5 Jennie: of animals and archetypes, rhymes and reasons. 6 Mickey: "In dreams...". 7 Ida, Mili, and the babies: inner harmonies. 8 Dreaming the myth onward

'...examines the unique contribution of Maurice Sendak to the literature of childhood. It is the first comprehensive reading of Sendak's key works that considers the symbolic child who has appeared and developed in Sendak's books and remains at the center of his vision....Cech concentrates on those books that Sendak has both written and illustrated--in essence, those works over which he has had complete artistic control. It is in these books that we can see most clearly the poetics of Sendak's art, the alchemy of his creative process that has woven together the remembrances of his own things past, the spirit of his times, the history of children's literature, and Sendak's animating concern with the archetypal figure of the child--a symbol of creative potential, emotional vitality, and spiritual renewal.'

Hardcover