''In the Night Kitchen'' is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak, first published in harcover in 1970 by Harper and Row. The book depicts a young boy's dream journey through a

surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...

baker's kitchen where he assists in the creation of a cake to be ready by the morning. ''In the Night Kitchen'' has been described by Sendak as part of a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

of books based on psychological development from ''In the Night Kitchen'' (toddler) to ''

Where the Wild Things Are ''Where the Wild Things Are'' is a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published in hardcover by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several tim ...

'' (pre-school) to ''

Outside Over There ''Outside Over There'' is a picture book for children written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. It concerns a young girl named Ida, who must rescue her baby sister after the child has been stolen by goblins. ''Outside Over There'' has been des ...

'' (pre-adolescent). It was a

Caldecott Honor The Randolph Caldecott Medal, frequently shortened to just the Caldecott, annually recognizes the preceding year's "most distinguished American picture book for children". It is awarded to the illustrator by the Association for Library Service ...

recipient in 1971. It was adapted into a five-minute animated short film on January 1, 1987 directed by Gene Deitch and released by

Weston Woods Weston Woods Studios (or simply Weston Woods) is a production company that makes audio and short films based on well-known books for children. It was founded in 1953 by Morton Schindel in Weston, Connecticut, and named after the wooded area near h ...

. The book drew controversy in the US due to depictions of nudity.

Plot summary

The main character is a young boy named Mickey who, while sleeping in his bed, is disturbed by noise on a lower floor. Suddenly, he begins to float, and loses all of his clothes as he drifts into a surreal world called the "Night Kitchen". He falls naked into a giant mixing pot that contains the batter for the "morning cake". While Mickey is buried in the mass, three identical bakers (who closely resemble Oliver Hardy) mix the batter and prepare it for baking, unaware (or unconcerned) that there is a little boy inside. Just before the baking pan is placed into the oven, the boy emerges from the pan, protesting that he is not the batter's milk. To make up for the baking ingredient deficiency, Mickey (now wearing a body suit of batter from the neck down) constructs an airplane out of bread

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavenin ...

so he can use the measuring cup as a hat and fly to the mouth of a gigantic milk bottle. Upon reaching the bottle's opening, he dives in and briefly revels in the liquid. After his covering of batter disintegrates, making him naked again, he pours the needed milk in a cascade down to the bakers who joyfully finish making their morning cake. With dawn breaking, the naked Mickey crows like a

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

and slides down the side of the bottle, back into his bed, where he is clothed again, "cake-free and dried".

Controversy

When Mickey (who looks to be about three years old) enters the Night Kitchen, he loses his pajamas and is fully naked in some parts of the story. Critics object to Mickey's nudity which depicts not only his buttocks, but also his genitals. Some also interpret sexual innuendo in the events, with the nudity, free-flowing milky fluids, and a giant (allegedly

phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when Erection, erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimesis, mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically— ...

) milk bottle. As a result, the book proved controversial in the United States on its release and has continued to be so. The inclusion of child nudity has been frequently raised as morally problematic; consequently, this book remains on lists of books either challenged or banned. The book has been ranked 25th on the "100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000" list compiled by the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members ...

Artwork

Sendak's illustrations here are rather different in style from ''

'', his best known book, which makes much use of cross hatching not found here. However, Sendak continues to utilize specific color tones and drawing a dream environment around a young child. Sendak's unique style captures the spirit and feeling of a dream, as Mickey floats, flies and dances from one panel to the next. The book may be defined as a comic story, at least if one uses the definition of comics proposed in

Scott McCloud Scott McCloud (born Scott McLeod; June 10, 1960) is an American cartoonist and comics theorist. He is best known for his non-fiction books about comics: ''Understanding Comics'' (1993), '' Reinventing Comics'' (2000), and '' Making Comics'' (20 ...

's acclaimed ''

Understanding Comics ''Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art'' is a 1993 non-fiction work of comics by American cartoonist Scott McCloud. It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in ...

'' — the storytelling is mainly pictorial (albeit clarified by captions) and the images mainly

sequential In mathematics, a sequence is an enumerated collection of objects in which repetitions are allowed and order matters. Like a set, it contains members (also called ''elements'', or ''terms''). The number of elements (possibly infinite) is called th ...

, and speech balloons are used throughout the entire book. In fact, the imagery is very similar to

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip '' Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film '' Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he w ...

's Sunday comic strip series '' Little Nemo'' from the early 20th century. Maurice Sendak has cited these comics as influential in his work, and on page five of ''Night Kitchen'', one of the ingredients shown has a subtitle saying "Chicken Little, Nemo, mass", a nod to this influence. In an interview on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''Fresh Air'' in 2006, Sendak said that his depiction of the cooks in ''In the Night Kitchen'' (with their

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

-esque mustaches) and the fact that they tried to cook the boy in their ovens were references to

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, a subject high in his thoughts, especially due to his Jewish heritage. Sendak also said the story dealt with the things that happen after a child goes to bed.

Awards received

Written in 1970, it has received the following awards: *1971

Book *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) *Children's Books of 1970 (Library of Congress) *Carey-Thomas Award 1971—Honor Citation *Brooklyn Art Books for Children 1973, 1975

References

External links