Sendak, L’Engle and a world of books for children

Leonard Marcus is versatility personified. He is an author, curator, critic and historian. The unifying factor of all Marcus’s professional roles is the subject matter: children’s literature. During his undergraduate years at Yale, Marcus identified the field as the one in which he would later carve out a substantial niche. “I became interested in looking at old children’s books as a snapshot of the society that created them,” he said.Most recently, Marcus has curated the exhibit at the New York Public Library entitled The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter. The show has been very popular, with more than 2,000 people attending on its opening day, July 1 (it remains open until September). The works in The ABC of It are organized into three categories: gifts, library books and “secret reading” — books not necessarily approved by parents.Marcus’s favorite children’s book is “Goodnight Moon.” “I am drawn to clarity and distillation in writing,” he said. “For clarity and distillation you can’t do any better than ‘Goodnight Moon.’” He defined “distillation” in this case as “getting at the essence of things.” The book presents the basic elements of life required by children: “clothing, food, shelter and imagination.” Its author is the subject of Marcus’s biography, “Margaret Wise Brown: Awakened by the Moon.” As part of this year’s addition of children’s books and authors to the annual book signing at the Hotchkiss Library of Sharon, Marcus will be signing two books at the event on Aug. 2: “Maurice Sendak: A Celebration of the Artist and his Work,” published on June 11 of this year; and “Listening for Madeleine: A Portrait in Many Voices” from 2012.The Sendak book was in the works before the author’s death in 2012. Justin Schiller, who owns many of Sendak’s illustrations, had discussed the idea of an exhibit with Sendak. The show (which includes many never-before-seen works) is currently on view at the Society of Illustrators on 63rd Street; the book is its catalogue. Originally, Marcus was asked to write an essay for the book. That proposal evolved into his participation as an editor.Marcus is a repository of interesting anecdotes about Sendak. For example, the author of “Where the Wild Things Are” and many other favorites walked with a cane in his later years. This was not an ordinary cane, but one that had been owned by Beatrix Potter.In addition, Sendak had a large collection of yo-yos when he was young. They were given to him by his elder sister in exchange for his convenient disappearance when she wanted to entertain a beau. In 1939 his sister took Sendak and her boyfriend to the World’s Fair. Suddenly, he found himself abandoned and subsequently being driven home in a police car. As the car neared Sendak’s address, the future author of “In the Night Kitchen” requested that the siren be turned on “so he could arrive with a flourish.”The challenge presented to Marcus when writing his work about Madeleine L’Engle, author of “A Wrinkle in Time,” was that, although he was able to locate several of her relatives, friends and associates, none of them presented a comprehensive portrait. After many interviews, he assembled the pieces of the puzzle. Marcus sought to convey several facets of L’Engle’s life, including her interest in science and how it intersects with religion. Marcus said that her interest in religion probably dates from the time of her residence in Goshen, where she became very active in church life. In the late 1940s, she and her husband withdrew from the city, settled in Goshen and bought the general store in town.