It is fitting that these books are of such high quality in terms of not only the content, but also the paper, binding, dust jackets, covers, printing, and artwork, because Maurice Sendak loves everything about books. In a homearts.com interview, the author discussed how strongly he feels about well designed and written children's books.

"I think kids get pleasure out of everything--milk cartons, cereal boxes--and a book that feels good is like a toy, it's like a teddy bear. You hug it, you squeeze it, you take it to bed. Then it has the added magnificence of being readable. This is extremely important; I've devoted my life to those other freaky kids who lick, sniff, and carry on over their books before they even read them."

I'll Be You and You Be Me
Ruth Krauss wrote over 30 books for children. I'll Be You and You Be Me (compare prices) is an engaging book of little stories, poems, plays, and vignettes that sound exactly as if they were created by small children. Maurice Sendak's tiny, exuberant pen and ink sketches perfectly capture the childish merriment of the text. The overall theme is love and friendship. There is so much to see on each page that this could easily become one of your young child's favorite books, one to be read aloud and looked at again and again.