Maurice Sendak was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born in 1928 in Brooklyn, New York to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Sendak illustrated his own books as well as those by other authors, such as the Little Bear series by Else Holmelund Minarik. He achieved widespread acclaim with his 1963 book Where the Wild Things Are, the first of a trilogy followed by In the Night Kitchen (1970) and Outside Over There (1981). Sendak also designed sets for operas, notably Mozart's The Magic Flute.