Reading the background info about the story helped me appreciate this more. Most useful as insight into Maurice Sendak himself.

This book is written by the father of famed children's author Maurice Sendak, at his son's insistence that he get some of his stories down in print. It starts with the true story of how Philip Sendak came to the United States from Poland (in pursuit of a love interest). Then it turns into a fantastical story that he was told by his own father. This story, of a young boy whose grandfather and parents go missing, has a fairy tale ring to it. The boy is aided by a giant bird who offers to fly him to his parents; along the way they have many adventures, including meeting giants and little people. In that respect, it reminds me a bit of Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. Although the timing would then be off (given the generations behind this story), there were also parts of the story, such as the mysterious disappearance of the parents, that almost seemed like an allegory for the Holocaust. This story is illustrated with black-and-white drawings by Maurice Sendak, although their over-exaggerated style did not really appeal to me. ( )

This was a big disappointment to me. While I think the illustrations are nice (not great), the story line fell flat.

Mint condition in original cover

no paperback