"People say 'Oh Mr. Sendak. I wish I were in touch with my childhood self, like you.' As if it were all quaint and succulent like Peter Pan. Childhood is cannibals and psychotics vomiting in your mouth. I say 'You are in touch lady. You're mean to your kids, you treat your husband like shit, you lie, you're selfish. That is your childhood self'. In reality, childhood is deep and rich. It's vital, mysterious and profound. I remember my own childhood vividly...I knew terrible things. But I knew I mustn't let adults know I knew...It would scare them."
“I think it is unnatural to think that there is such a thing as a blue-sky, white-clouded happy childhood for anybody. Childhood is a very, very tricky business of surviving it. Because if one thing goes wrong or anything goes wrong, and usually something goes wrong, then you are compromised as a human being. You’re going to trip over that for a good part of your life.”
“Certainly we want to protect our children from new and painful experiences that are beyond their emotional comprehension and that intensify anxiety; and to a point we can prevent premature exposure to such experiences. That is obvious. But what is just as obvious — and what is too often overlooked — is the fact that from their earliest years children live on familiar terms with disrupting emotions, fear and anxiety are an intrinsic part of their everyday lives, they continually cope with frustrations as best they can. And it is through fantasy that children achieve catharsis. It is the best means they have for taming Wild Things.”
"Tell them anything you want"
"Please don't go. We'll eat you up. We love you so."
