Sendak, Maurice (1970, 1995). In the Night Kitchen. New York,NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Challenged Book
Yes, I can see why this book was challenged and even withdrawn from some libraries!
It is, however, a very innocent story about a child dreaming in the night. Mickey dreams about floating into the night kitchen and falling into some batter, then he is baked. He then explodes from the cake and falls into some dough which he fashions into an airplane. Then he falls into a giant bottle of milk, and finally wakes in bed fully clothed and refreshed!
I think the only problem that some people find is that in the dream, the child Mickey loses his clothes and is almost-anatomically-correctly drawn and is floating around in his birthday-suit in free abandon! The fact that there are three male cooks in the "night kitchen" might be a problem also to some... But I only saw a wonderfully illustrated fantastical and dream-like story that is sure to delight a child who sees no wrong!
The artwork is very much in the style of Sendak with all its incredible detail and fantastical visual imagery. There is always something new to find in each illustration!
This book is a wonderful opportunity to star an interesting and perhaps necessary conversation!!
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