In the Night Kitchen (Caldecott Collection)

Product Details

Product Reviews

(5 stars) - Strange and magical
This is all time favorite for my daughter from about 2-5 and now my 3 yr old son. I can't even put my finger on exactly what both my young children adored about this book, but it certainly resonated with them on some deep level. Some reviewers found the dream-like (and frankly strange) story line to be "creepy" and "scary" as with other Sendak classics. This is an adult reaction of not fully understanding the book. I don't fully understand the book myself, but that's ok. Kids can totally accept not understanding the book and enjoy it on a totally different level of perception. (So much they don't understand anyway that that in and of itself was not scary in the least for my kids- they found it magical).

My son wants to read "Mickey" as well as Outside Over There, frequently at bedtime. I find myself analyzing both books each time. What does it all mean? Does it mean anything? I get a kick out of trying to interpret what may be symbolism or just wacky imaginative-ness.

(5 stars) - Yes, it's a classic!
This book came out when I was three years old, although I think I was a little older when I read it, maybe five or six. And I can PROMISE you I was not scared by the bakers or shocked by the nudity or confused about it being real. I liked it almost as much, or maybe even as much, as "Where the Wild Things Are." I loved the artwork, and I loved the bakers' chant, "Milk in the batter, milk in the batter! We bake cake, and nothing's the matter!"

As an adult, I can see that a lot of the appeal about it was that Mickey was having a bad dream and he took control of it and escaped. I think that's something every kid wants to know how to do. And Mickey's triumphant exit line, "I'm not the milk and the milk's not me - I'm Mickey!" had a definite "be who you are, not what other people want" message. Apparently Sendak said the only reason Mickey is naked is to avoid drawing the mess of batter-soaked clothes, but I think it also adds to the message of standing up for who and what you are.

(5 stars) - Childhood Dream Logic In Pen and Ink
Growing up in Brooklyn in the 1930's, Maurice Sendak became obsessed with an ad for the "Sunshine Bakers." It featured three little fat guys in aprons and baker's hats, proclaiming: "We Bake While You Sleep!" Sounds innocent enough, sure, but it enraged little Mo, who, already blessed with an artistic temperament, called this concept "sadistic," as HE wanted to watch them mix the batter and measure the milk. He even kept the coupons so he could stare at the little bakers and imagine the wild goings-on inside the bakery.

So maybe THAT explains this tantalizingly surreal book: it could only have come from years of creative festering mixed up with a child's unforgotten rage and desire. The finished product is as close to one of those intense, almost-scary-but-not-quite childhood dreams as has ever been committed to paper.

The story is told in elongated, cartoon-like panels, and the look of it resembles a trippy "Nemo In Slumberland" crossed with a Laurel and Hardy film. The hero, Mickey, falls out of bed, out of his clothes, and through the floor (let's add an Alice In Wonderland reference here, too, now that we're at it) into "the light of the night kitchen." There, he is almost baked into a cake by three red-nosed Oliver Hardy lookalikes, but this is presented in a cheerful, "oops" manner rather than a Grimm's-style cautionary tale. In true dream-logic, they didn't have any malice toward Mickey: they simply mistook him for the milk!

So Mickey's mission is set: he must get milk for the batter, and the milk is only accessible through the top of a skyscraper-sized bottle. Our resourceful hero quickly builds an airplane from some dough, jauntily places the cup atop his head and flies to the top of the milk bottle, where he dives in, losing his dough-suit in the process.

In addition to the never-fail storyline of a kid heroically rescuing some hapless adults, this book is also a five-star hit with my son because of the tactile quality of Mickey's adventures: he falls, naked, into a big warm bowl of dough, swims in a cool bottle of milk, and slides down a giant bottle, in addition to yelling stuff at the top of his lungs whenever the mood strikes. Oh, and there's cake.

But really, trying to explain this book's magic is pointless: just buy it. Trust me, there will be a few used copies available -- this book is still being debated (and banned) by libraries and parents and and schools more than 30 years after its release date. For some unknown reason, the book simply creeps some people out.

It also has amazing collage-like artwork, a million little fine artistic details, and mystery to burn. In other words, it's one of my son's favorite books of all time. Mine too.

(5 stars) - open a kids mind and heart
My kids are 20 and 22 1/2... as though it were yesterday... we all loved it... it went back and forth being one and the others choice every other day. Our hope was to not give 'labels' or make any issue a concept dealing with alleged morality. We 'wanted' free thinkers. We were pretty run of the mill where the kids spent their first 7 and 9 years old... city school. The idea of banning a book is so bizarre to me anyway. It is a wonderful addition to any toddler/child's library.

(1 stars) - weird stoner kids book
By my math, this came out seven years after Where the Wild Things Are. On the basis of this book I can only assume that Maurice was stoned on some very expensive and powerful weed in 1970.

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