Kenny's Window [Hardcover]

Maurice Sendak (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Kenny dreams of a fabulous land where he would like to live always, and in his search for it discovers many things about himself and about growing up. ‘An unusual, imaginative story . . . in which reality blends with make-believe.' 'SLJ.

1956 Children's Spring Book Festival Honor Book (NY Herald Tribune)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

HarperCollins's reissue of Maurice Sendak's oeuvre continues with four more titles. Published in 1956, Kenny's Window follows the adventures of a boy living out his fantasies from the confines of his bedroom. His window provides a magic portal as he strives to answer seven questions posed to him in a dream. The Sign on Rosie's Door (1960) invites readers into the girl's imaginative world, where three knocks reveal her secret: "I'm not Rosie any more," she says. "I'm Alinda, the lovely lady singer." A quartet of neighborhood pals quickly gets in on the act.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Maurice Sendak received the Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are. He has also received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, the National Medal of Arts, and the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060287896
• ISBN-13: 978-0060287894
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For more than forty years, the books Maurice Sendak has written and illustrated have nurtured children and adults alike and have challenged established ideas about what children's literature is and should be. The New York Times has recognized that Sendak's work "has brought a new dimension to the American children's book and has helped to change how people visualize childhood." Parenting recently described Sendak as "indisputably, the most revolutionary force in children's books."
Winner of the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are, in 1970 Sendak became the first American illustrator to receive the international Hans Christian Andersen Award, given in recognition of his entire body of work. In 1983, he received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, also given for his entire body of work.
Beginning in 1952, with A Hole Is to Dig by Ruth Krauss, Sendak's illustrations have enhanced many texts by other writers, including the Little Bear books by Else Holmelund Minarik, children's books by Isaac Bashevis Singer and Randall Jarrell, and The Juniper Tree and Other Tales from Grimm. Dear Mili, Sendak's interpretation of a newly discovered tale by Wilhelm Grimm, was published to extraordinary acclaim in 1988.
In addition to Where the Wild Things Are (1963), Sendak has both written and illustrated
The Nutshell Library (1962), Higglety Pigglety Pop! (1967), In the Night Kitchen (1970), Outside Over There (1981), and, We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy (1993). He also illustrated Swine Lake (1999), authored by James Marshall, Brundibar (2003), by Tony Kushner, Bears (2005), by Ruth Krauss and, Mommy? (2006), his first pop-up book, with paper engineering by Matthew Reinhart and story by Arthur Yorinks.
Since 1980, Sendak has designed the sets and costumes for highly regarded productions of Mozart's The Magic Flute and Idomeneo, Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen, Prokofiev's
The Love for Three Oranges, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, and Hans Krása's Brundibár.
In 1997, Sendak received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton. In 2003 he received the first Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, an international prize for children's literature established by the Swedish government. Maurice Sendak was born in Brooklyn in 1928. He now lives in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kenny's Window, October 19, 2000

By 

V. Charbonneau (Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kenny's Window (Reading Rainbow) (Paperback)

Kenny's Window is a very interesting book. I have always been a fan of Maurice Sendak's illustrations, but he is also a good author as well as a brilliant illustrator. A young boy named Kenny has a dream where he is in a garden. One half of the garden has the sun shining and the other half the glowing moon. There is a tree covered with white blossoms and a train. But there is also a four-legged rooster who gives Kenny seven questions to answer. If he answers them all correctly, he will be allowed to live in the garden. The book deals with Kenny's quest in trying to decipher the questions, and maybe learning a little about himself. The illustrations that accompany this book are not as lavish as some of Sendak's other works like "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Outside Over There", yet their beautiful simplicity capture the mood of the story. Very young children may not understand some of the hidden meanings found in the story. I'd recommend this book for 6 to 7 year olds who are starting to get more out of books than just looking at the pictures. Kenny's Window is an enjoyable read.