Author Maurice Sendak Dies

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Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, has died. He was 83.

The illustrator and writer, who was called "the Picasso of children's books" by Time magazine, passed away after suffering a stroke on Friday, according to The Los Angeles Times.

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Wild Things, perhaps Sendak's most popular work, became one of the 10 bestselling children's books of all time, even as librarians reportedly banned the book for being too frightening.

Sendak author-illustrated 20 books in his career and won many important prizes along the way including the Caldecott Medal, which was awarded to Wild Things for "most distinguished American picture book for children."

The L.A. Times reports that Sendak considered Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must be More to Life to be his favorite of all the books he authored. The story follows a terrier who decides that having everything isn't what life is about.