YOU MAY HAVE already become addicted to watching Google’s doodle today but if you haven’t, take this as your official warning.

The interactive homepage was created to celebrate the birthday of Maurice Sendak who penned children’s favourite Where the Wild Things Are. The Polish-American author would have been 85 years old today but he passed away in May last year after suffering a stroke.

The book’s famous fanged monsters appear in the compelling doodle, beginning with a dance and stroll from the story’s hero Max. He is later joined by Mickey and three bakers from In the Night Kitchen.

The doodlers stopped short of following Sendak’s decision to show Mickey naked, a move that caused ferocious controversy in 1970 as his penis was visible in certain illustrations.

A number of characters from Bumble-Ardy, which was published in 2005, also feature.

Sendak’s final book, My Brother’s Book, was published posthumously earlier this year.

Interview: Getting paid to daydream and doodle

BEST OF: 15 hits from the Google Doodle collection