The brilliant children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, who passed away in May of last year, would have celebrated his 85th birthday today. In tribute to Sendak, Google has created a wonderful new entry its Doodle series.
Sendak is, of course, best known for writing and illustrating the classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, so, logically, the Doodle starts with the Google logo done Sendek-style, with the book’s main character Max in his wolf suit in the middle of the word. A word bubble issues from Max with a flashing “play” triangle button, and clicking it or him begins a terrific circular animation. The figures and scenery aren’t too animated, in that they only move just enough to make it make sense, which keeps it looking like it came straight from the pages of a book.
The animation begins, as you’d expect, with Where the Wild Things Are, then moves on to one of Sendak’s other well-known works, In the Night Kitchen, then finishes up — sensibly — with his last book published before his death, Bumble-Ardy, which works perfectly as it’s also about a birthday party.
