Google's doodle for Maurice Sendak's 85th birthday
Cherished children’s writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak would have been 85 today and, to celebrate, Google has turned its homepage into an animated doodle based on some of his best-known books.
Today, the logo on the Google homepage has been taken over by Max, the young protagonist from Where the Wild Things Are, doing his best wolf impression. A speech bubble above his head prompts the viewer to press play, which opens up a rotating animation of not only the world of the 1963 picture book, but also 1970’s In the Night Kitchen and 2011’s Bumble-Ardy.
The latter was Sendak’s last publication before his death on 8 May last year from complications following a stroke, and is typical of the author’s subversive style.
All of the characters end their journey gathered around a birthday cake at a party worthy of the man who The New York Times dubbed the most important children’s book artist of the 20th century.
