Arts & Entertainment

Sendak Exhibit Opens in East Cobb

The work and influences of the famed children's illustrator and author are on display at the East Cobb Library.

The stories of Jewish folk life that influenced Maurice Sendak as a child form the focus of a new exhibit on display through Oct. 14 at the East Cobb Library

"In a Nutshell" traces the artistic roots of the famed children's illustrator and author, especially the tales of family members who lived in Polish shtetl communities.

Much of his art derives from darkness, as many of those relatives perished during the Holocaust.

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For East Cobb residents Reuven and Shirley Dobry, the stories resonate deeply. 

He fled his native Poland in 1935 for Palestine before arriving in America after World War II to attend college. She's from the same heavily Jewish Bensonhurst community of Brooklyn that inspired Sendak.

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"I grew up with this," she said, peering at the exhibit panels.

The Cobb Library System applied for grants to receive the exhibit, which is organized by the Rosenbach Museum and Library of Philadelphia, the repository of Sendak's work. 

The main branch of the Cobb library in downtown Marietta is featuring "Parallel Journeys: World War II and the Holocaust" on loan from the Kennesaw State University Museum of History and Holocaust Education.

The Dobrys, who are congregants at the Chabad of Cobb synagogue in East Cobb, said they will be volunteering during the exhibit, which includes several story-telling sessions for children and adults, including one at 11 a.m. on Saturday, as well as a book discussion group. 

For the full schedule of events, click here


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