Penny Sibson's Copy of Where the WIld Things Are by Maurice Sendak

Penny Sibson was a book publicist who worked for a number of houses, including the Bodley Head, a London imprint of Penguin Random House. A copy of Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are from her personal library is dedicated to her by the author. He included a drawing of the wild thing Moishe, whom Sendak closely identified with. The book is available from Book Box London.

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks listing accessed April 18, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Where-Wild-Things-Inscribed-Presentation-Copy/32423504192/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks item description

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks bibliographic details

May 10, 2026 Update:  Sold!

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Michael's Copy of Maurice Sendak's Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life

Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life was published in 1967. A copy of the first edition was signed by Maurice Sendak to one Michael in July of 1979. The author included a sketch of a dog. Let's call her Jennie.

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks listing accessed March 9, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Higglety-Piggletty-Pop-Life-Sendak-Maurice/32404699618/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks item description

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Maurice Sendak: Chicken Soup (With Rice?)

In the December 4 Illustration Art sale, Swann Auction Galleries offered a charming drawing by Maurice Sendak that was there called Chicken Soup—for one very obvious reason. It is clearly inspired by his book Chicken Soup With Rice: A Book of Months from 1962, a part of The Nutshell Library. The drawing is inscribed by Sendak to Lynn Caponera, who was Sendak's longtime housekeeper and caretaker, and is now the Executive Director of the Maurice Sendak Foundation. Swann gives its date as circa 1962.

Maurice Sendak
Swann Auction Galleries listing of December 4, 2026

https://www.swanngalleries.com/auction-lot/_15BDBAC134

Maurice Sendak
Swann Auction Galleries listing

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Maurice Sendak's Cuisine de nuit, With a Drawing of Mickey

Maurice Sendak's In the Night Kitchen was published in 1970. The French edition, Cuisine de nuit, was released in 1972. A copy listed on Abe Books by Atlanta Vintage Books has a charming drawing of Mickey by the illustrator on the front free endpaper.

Maurice Sendak
AbeBooks listing accessed January 10, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/CUISINE-NUIT-Maurice-Sendak-Lecole-Loisirs/32345704892/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

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Maurice Sendak: A Preliminary Book Illustration for Where the Wild Things Are

A preliminary book illustration from Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak's illustrated children's classic from 1963, was sold yesterday at Heritage Auctions. It is untitled but has been referred to as Max Terrorizing the Dog at least since 2003.

Bidding opened at $40,000, the reserve price. As of November 9, no bids had yet been placed.

Maurice Sendak
Heritage Auctions listing accessed November 9, 2025

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/maurice-sendak-american-1928-2012-untitled-max-terrorizing-the-dog-preliminary-sketch-for-where-the-wild-things-are-circa/a/8231-67026.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Open-ThisAuction-120115

The auction house documents an interesting back-and-forth in the provenance:

Maurice Sendak
Heritage Auctions item description

But, wait!

By November 13, the reserve had been lowered. There were still no online bids when I captured the following image fourteen hours before the sale.

Yet the work did find a buyer during the live bidding on November 14, selling for a $44,000 hammer price plus the 25% buyer's premium.

Hammer price

In some sense, the work might still be available if the price is right:

Sendak's final published illustration establishes a dynamic flow of movement down the stairs and through the doorway. Max now raises a fork as a weapon and the dog is no longer sitting on its haunches but quite understandably running away. To the drawing on the wall, Sendak has added the words "by Max"—and it isn't the same Wild Thing.

https://moonbowbooks.substack.com/p/maurice-sendak-the-artist-who-loved

Personally, I never cared for the inclusion of the fork.

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Heritage Auctions American Art New York Preview

Last night, Heritage Auctions hosted a reception in New York for its forthcoming American Art sale. These works and many others will be on the auction block in Texas on November 14. There was some high-end illustration art there as well, including a lot of scouting pictures.

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Maurice Sendak

Gutzon Borglum

F. W. Benson

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Howard Chandler Christy

J. C. Leyendecker

LeRoy Nieman

Andrew Wyeth

Augusta Savage

Norman Rockwell

William Glackens

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

Norman Rockwell

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