Celebrities, Children's Book | featured news

Maurice Sendak, the children's book author and illustrator who saw the sometimes-dark side of childhood in books like "Where the Wild Things Are" and "In the Night Kitchen," died early Tuesday. He was 83. Longtime friend and caretaker Lynn Caponera said she was with him when Sendak died at a hospital in Danbury, Conn. She said he had a stroke on Friday.

Actress and best-selling author Tori Spelling is writing a children's book. "Presenting ... Tallulah," the "sweet tale of a young girl who really just wants to be herself," is coming out in September, publisher Aladdin announced Tuesday. Spelling, star of the reality series "Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood," also has written the memoirs "Mommywood" and "sTORI Telling."
A third adult release, tentatively titled "uncharted terriTORI," is scheduled for June.

Aladdin is an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

Dolly Parton created a charity 13 years ago to provide books to children and encourage literacy.