The Magic of Maurice Sendak: Childhood Fears and the Heroes of Sendak’s Trilogy
Michael D. Reed

Abstract
Three of Maurice Sendak’s books are often considered a trilogy, where The Wild Things Are. In The Night Kitchen and Outside Over There because they are thematically similar. Each focuses on a hero who is able to overcome the disruptive fears, feelings, frustrations and behaviors of childhood and find for him/herself an identity in the complexity of his/her world. Each is able to reach the existential goal of self-awareness and understanding, and each is able to reshape his/her world and his/her individual destiny which imparts to these three books a magic that undoubtedly accounts for their appeal to children and adults as well.

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