In the Night Kitchen

My daughter has been reading and listening to Chicken Soup with Rice non-stop for the last month.  I needed some variety, and thought I would throw another Maurice Sendak title in to the mix.  I hadn’t liked In the Night Kitchen as a child, but wanted to give this classic another try.

Author/Illustrator: Maurice Sendak

Publisher: Harper Collins (1970)

Prices: Hardcover - $13.66, Paperback - $7.99, Audible - $9.95

Reading level: Age 3-8

Interest level: Lower Grades

Physical Characteristics: Hardcover, 40 pages, 8.5x11

ISBN: 9780060266684

Genre: Children's Fiction Picture Book

Subjects:

Children – Fiction and Literature

Fantasy Fiction

Caldecott Honor Book

Dreams

Annotation: A young boy named Mickey has a dream journey through a fantastical baker's kitchen where he helps three comic bakers.

Summary:

A little boy is snug in his bead when he is awoken by a loud clanging from the kitchen.  He floates down to the night kitchen where there are three comically odd bakers preparing a morning cake.  They mistake Mickey for milk and end up putting him in the batter and into the oven.  He tells them he is not the milk, and goes on a surreal journey to gather milk for their cake.  Eventually the cake gets made and Mickey ends up back in his bed asleep.  Of course, this is all a surreal and hazy dream.

Evaluation:

This book freaked me out when I was a kid, and I had the present notion that I still didn’t like it, but after reading it with adult eyes I found I was really enamored with In the Night Kitchen.  I love the illustrations.  The color scheme that Sendak uses is mature yet whimsical and dreamy.  And all the kitchen details of the architecture are amazing.  I think what I find so good about this book is that it invites imagination, it is simple and surreal and ultimately very childlike.  I look forward to reading it and looking at the illustrations again, soon.

Similar Titles or Authors:

Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak

Blackout by John Rocco

Boy on the Brink by David McPhail

Websites:

http://www.harpercollins.com/cr-100369/maurice-sendak

Awards & Recognition:

Caldecott Honor 1971

25th place on ALA’s  "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000"

Notable Children's Books of 1940—1970 (ALA)

Best Books of 1970 (SLJ)

Outstanding Children's Books of 1970 (NYT)

Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1970 (NYT)

Brooklyn Art Books for Children 1973, 1975

Children's Books of 1970 (Library of Congress)

Carey-Thomas Award 1971—Honor Citation

Professional Reviews:

In the night kitchen (Book Review). (1971). TLS, 769.

In the night kitchen (Book Review). (1970). Time, 9668.

Notes:

One of the significant facts about this book in historical terms is how often it has been challenged, and how much controversy or perceived controversy has surrounded In the Night Kitchen.