In the Night Kitchen

There are few books that both intrigue and perplex me at the same time. In the Night Kitchen (1970) by Maurice Sendak, an older book, still manages this after numerous years. It perplexed me in that I never understood why, or how, Mickey (the young boy and main character) fell out of his clothes. It also intrigued me because the bakers refer to Mickey as milk.

This controversial book is a rhyming story about Mickey, who has a dream. In his dream, Mickey falls out of his clothes and down into the Night Kitchen. In fact, he falls, naked, into a batch of cake batter. Three identical bakers mix him into the batter and try to cook him, thinking he is the milk for the batter. Mickey pops out of the cake, now dressed in batter, explains that he is not the milk, and sets off to retrieve milk for the bakers' cake. He loses his batter clothing in the bottle of milk. After climbing out of the bottle, he slides down the side until he lands safely back in his bed.

As stated previously, the text rhymes. The illustrations, created in Sendak's incredibly recognizable style, make incredible artwork that parallel the text being read. Together, the artwork and text create a kaleidoscopic cornucopia for the readers' senses.

Despite the image of Mickey naked, In the Night Kitchen could be a marvelous read and good teaching tool for teachers. Using the rhymes and during the second read, I would stop before each rhyming word and ask my kindergartners what word is next? What would make sense there? Afterwards, we might read it a third time and create an anchor chart showing the different rhymes used throughout the book.

Classroom library material? Perhaps. I'll leave that up to you. In the Night Kitchen has a great story, but it does have images of a young, naked child...