by Fernando Mendez

Maurice Sendak’s book, In the Night Kitchen, is about a little boy named Mickey, who dreams that he falls naked out of his bed in the middle of the night and finds himself in a magical place called the night kitchen. In the dream, he encounters three bakers, which happen to bear a striking resemblance to the actor Oliver Hardy, who are whipping up their morning cake. They are unaware that Mickey has fallen into their batter and proceed to include Mickey as an ingredient, believing him to be the milk. Halfway through the baking process, Mickey emerges from the oven, protesting “I’m not the milk and the milk’s not me! I’m Mickey” (1). Mickey then pops out of the batter now covered from the head down in batter, makes a plane out of dough, and flies up into the air to get milk for the bakers for their morning cake. As his dough plane reaches the milk bottle’s opening, he dives into the milk singing, “I’m in the milk and the milk’s in me. God bless milk and God bless me” (1). As his batter suit disintegrates, he pours the needed milk in a cascade down to the bakers who joyfully finish making the morning cake. As the sun begins to rise over the night kitchen, Mickey, naked again, crows like a rooster and slides down the bottle to magically return to his bed “cakefree and dried” (1).

As with many of Sendak’s books, the illustrations are captivating and bring out the magic of his story. It is told in a comic book style that utilizes narrative text boxes and dialogue balloons. Many of the illustrations are filled with objects, with each revisit presenting something new to the reader. In truth, there is not much to the story itself. Being a child’s dream, it is very surreal, and there is not really much of a plot other than Mickey having to get the last ingredient, milk, for the bakers to make their morning cakes. Still, the full page illustrations are enough to hold the attention of readers of all ages.

This children’s book has also gained notoriety due to the many proposals for it to be banned from school libraries across the country. The bans are centered on the fact that Mickey, a young boy, is pictured naked, both front and back, in the book. One instance occurred in 1994, in El Paso, Texas, where Andrea Berkenkemper, a mother of two, challenged the book because she believed it to be pornographic. She stated that her children, ages 5 and 8, were so disturbed by the nude Mickey that they could not finish the story. In her letter Berkenkemper stated that she was “offended by the fact that the little boy pictured did not have any clothes on and it pictured his private area. Please remove this book….It discourages family reading time” (2).

I can definitely see how a depiction of a nude boy could be upsetting to some parents. For many people, it is hard to separate nudity from sexuality, indeed for many people they are one and the same. However, I think that readers, especially adult readers, should consider the context of Mickey’s nudity in this book before jumping to any conclusions. It seemed that Sendak intended for Mickey’s nudity to be a way for him to become one with his dream. His clothes would have been a barrier, keeping him from fully immersing himself in his dream world. Personally, I did not see anything sexual in Mickey’s nudity. Sure, kids may giggle and snicker at the sight of Mickey’s naked body, but I think they would ultimately be more interested in Mickey’s dream adventure to save the morning cakes. Young children would only see this book as a work that celebrates the magic of the imagination.

References:

“El Paso mother calls In the Night Kitchen porn.” American Libraries 25.6 (1994): 480. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.

Sendak, Maurice. In the Night Kitchen. Harper & Row, 1970. Print.