New York is Book Country Poster (20th Anniversary)

1998 1998. 18.5 x 27.5 poster in a 20.25 x 29.25 frame. Illustrated by Sendak. Signed by Sendak on lower right of poster. Color illustration of a Wild Thing seated in New York and preparing to carve into a stack of books with a fork and knife, with a 20th anniversary ribbon in background pulled by In the Night Kitchen character, Mickey, and his dough plane, in a black frame. Very light creases to top and left of poster, else fine. Overall, a bright and excellent example. This poster, featuring original artwork by Maurice Sendak, commemorates the 20th anniversary of New York is Book Country (NYIBC), a 5-day book fair held annually in Manhattan from 1979 to 2010 (with a pause from 2005 to 2007). The poster was issued on September 18, 1998 to raise funds for the Children's Services Division of the New York Public Library. Each year one or more posters were created for the event, with original artwork by top children's book artists, like Stan and Jan Berenstain, Charles Schulz, Edward Gorey, and Richard Scarry. Maurice Sendak, arguably the most important children's book writer and illustrator of the 20th century, is recognized as someone "who wrenched the picture book out of the safe, sanitized world of the nursery and plunged it into the dark, terrifying and hauntingly beautiful recesses of the human psyche" (The New York Times). He is best known for his thematically linked trilogy, In the Night Kitchen, Where the Wild Things Are, and Outside Over There. Sendak received a number of major awards in his career, including the Caldecott Medal, National Book Award, and National Medal of Arts.. Signed by Author. 1st Edition. Color Lithograph. Fine. 18.5" x 27.5".