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Chertoff Mural by Maurice Sendak

The Chertoff mural, prior to conservation by Maurice Sendak, 1961
On Tuesday, NPR published a story about a mural that was painted on the wall in Larry and Nina Chertoff's childhood bedroom in Manhattan in 1961 by family friend Maurice Sendak, the author and illustrator who, two years later, would publish the award-winning children's book Where The Wild Things Are. The NPR story was titled, A Parade, Restored: A Maurice Sendak Mural Goes From Bedroom To Gallery, which includes an interview with Maurice Sendak and Larry and Nina Chertoff who talk about the mural and its journey from bedroom to museum.

The story reports that the Chertoffs have donated the mural to Philadelphia's Rosenbach Museum and Library, the home of the Maurice Sendak Gallery, where much of the writer's work is already housed. The museum has removed the mural from the apartment — right along with the wall beneath it — and has transported it back to Philadelphia. There, it's being restored for display.

Right before reading this NPR story, I had been perusing the Rosenback Museum and Library's website because I plan to attend a viewing of The Library of the Early Mind, which is scheduled for March 12 at the museum. While looking through the events calendar to find the viewing, I found the announcement for the Chertoff mural to be on display from February 2 - March 23. I feel like a lucky duck to be getting the opportunity to see The Library of the Early Mind AND the Chertoff mural on the same weekend!


I don't have memories of being read Where the Wild Things Are as a child, but I have vivid memories of reading the book to my son, Derek. We read the book so many times that he knew it by memory and often, when we came to the wild rumpus, we jumped up and started a wild rumpus of our own. Good stuff, that!

Many people have fond memories of Maurice Sendak's work. In a follow-up to the Chertoff mural story, listeners of NPR wrote in about their own memories.

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