The Miami Giant

Arthur Yorinks has written and directed for opera, theater, dance, film, and radio and is the author of over thirty-five acclaimed and award-winning books, including Hey, Al, a children’s book, which earned the Caldecott Medal in 1987. From the age of 6, Yorinks studied to be a classical pianist, under former Juilliard professor Robert Bedford. At 17, veering from a potential profession as a classical musician, Yorinks began over four decades of writing and working in the performing arts. In the field of opera, Yorinks was Philip Glass’s librettist for the operas The Juniper Tree and The Fall of the House of Usher.Through his forty years of picture-book making, he has teamed up with many famed illustrators including Maurice Sendak, William Steig, Mort Drucker, David Small, and Richard Egielski. His book, Mommy?, was a New York Times bestseller. Mr. Yorinks lives in New York City and continues to write and direct.

Maurice Sendak was born June 10, 1928, in Brooklyn, NY. He received the 1964 Caldecott Medal for Where the Wild Things Are. In 1970 he received the international Hans Christian Andersen Medal for illustration, and he remains the only American ever awarded this honor. In 1983, Sendak received the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association, given in recognition of his entire body of work. He also received a 1996 National Medal of Arts in recognition of his contribution of arts in America. He illustrated over 80 books. He died May 8, 2012.