Here's a great New York Times article - in prefect timing for Banned Books Week!
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/books/review/the-childrens-authors-who-broke-the-rules.html?pagewanted=all
"Seuss, Sendak and Silverstein ignored these rules. They brought a shock of subversion to the genre — defying the notion that children’s books shouldn’t be scary, silly or sophisticated. Rather than reprimand the wayward listener, their books encouraged bad (or perhaps just human) behavior. Not surprisingly, Silverstein and Sendak shared the same longtime editor, Ursula Nordstrom of Harper & Row, a woman who once declared it her mission to publish 'good books for bad children.'"
