Professional Resource

Envisioning the Jewish Community in Children’s Literature

May, Jill P. "Envisioning the Jewish Community in Children's Literature: Maurice Sendak and Isaac Singer." The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association 33 (2001): 137-50.

This article is written about the lives and careers of Isaac Singer and Maurice Sendak. Both are award winning children’s authors/illustrators and have led interesting lives. First, Isaac Singer’s life is examined and he makes a claim that I find to be the most interesting in the article. He discusses why he writes about Jews in Poland and explains, “I write about people I know best” (138). This could not cater more to the discussion on insider vs. outsider perspective. Singer is a Jewish immigrant from Poland and wants to captivate his readers by giving them this insider perspective because he feels most comfortable writing about a culture he knows and lives. Isaac discusses that after moving to America he felt uncomfortable with the way he was treated. “I [Isaac] lived through a terrible disappointment. I felt then - more than I do now – that Yiddish had no future in this country” (138). Supposedly America is the melting pot of society; excepting of all different cultures yet Isaac felt different. Although Isaac was considered a rebel by his family he “hoped to keep his Jewish heritage intact” (140) by expressing himself through his literature. The article also explains about the two different categories Singer’s literature falls into; one being based around his polish village and the other about spirits. Singer has won the Nobel peace prize and his work is appreciated around the world.
Maurice Sendak is the focus over the second half of the article. He is the “best known children’s illustrator of the 20th century” (142). He has won the Caldecott award and is an icon throughout America. What strikes me the most interesting about Sendak was that the article mentions his childhood seclusion and the fact that he was not religious growing up. This Jewish author/illustrator chooses to write focusing on the American city child. He does not want to only appeal to his own culture but he wants a wide range of audience, the American child being a particularly large one.
The three children’s literature books I have chosen to focus on appeal to a wide audience. These author/illustrators both show their heritage in their work but don’t bog down their pieces with the culture of Judaism. As a reader I feel an insider perspective is extremely important and I would be interested in reading and looking at both of these artists work. Sendak states that by illustrating he is “preserving his family in the art” (148). Both men value their diversity and it is certainly appreciated throughout the world.