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    Time to rewatch Maurice Sendak’s extremely charming Colbert interview

    Emily Temple
    By 
    May 8, 2019, 12:20pm

    Only a few months before Maurice Sendak’s death seven years ago, Stephen Colbert visited his home to interview him for the Colbert Report (remember when it was hilarious to pretend to be a conservative?). In the clip, Colbert asks Sendak about the state of children’s literature (“abysmal”), teaches him the term “tallywacker,” and solicits multiple blurbs for future cash-cow children’s books. Sendak is delightfully grumpy, the twinkle in his eye unrelenting, and Colbert is—Colberty. In the end, they each draw their take on a pole, and huff Sharpies until Sendak sings. Could anything be better?

    children's literature interviews Maurice Sendak picture books Stephen Colbert The Colbert Report Where the Wild Things Are

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