In the Night Kitchen by: Maurice Sendak

Ages: 3-6

A young boy, Mickey, is asleep in his bed when he hears noises. Suddenly he begins to float and drifts into a surreal world of The Night Kitchen. He falls into a giant mixing bowl that contains the batter for the morning cake. As the bakers are about to put it in the oven, Mickey emerges from the batter. The milk is missing from the batter, so Mickey constructs an airplane out of the bread dough to reach the mouth of the huge milk bottle. Will Mickey be able to get to the milk so the bakers can make the cake? Find out in book, In the Night Kitchen.

In the Night Kitchen is considered a controversial book in today’s society. It is a very bizarre book. I do find the book to be controversial due to the fact that the little boy is seen nude or mostly nude throughout the book. The book shows both a front and back view of the naked boy. For a fictional character, Mickey’s “private area” is somewhat detailed. I do not think it is appropriate for young children to see a naked boy. I also find it inappropriate that three men are looking at a nude young boy. This is another controversial topic in our society. As a future teacher, I would not want this book in my classroom. I do not want children looking at a book with a naked boy in the story. I think it is up to parents to decide if this book is appropriate for their children to read. Some might not want their children to read a book that contains nudity at a young age. The comic book-like illustrations are colorful and detailed. The illustrations are very clever, including one that has a city made out of different ingredients. I feel that the story is a little bit scary and odd for young children. Some children may be able to relate to the book because of the fact that they have had unique and odd dreams. Overall, I find In the Night Kitchen to be a controversial book that I would not want to use in my classroom of young children, because of the nudity.