In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

Nudity...that's the image that remained in my head after reading this children's book. Is it necessary for the story? I honestly don't think it is. In the Night Kitchen would be a perfectly functional story without the nudity included. I understand that it is part of the creativity and imagination of this story, but the nudity does little to drive or support the story in any way. Mickey, a young boy, hears a racket being made at night and falls into the night kitchen. Filled with Mickey's adventures of being baked into a cake, him flying through the night, and his help of pouring milk into the batter, all of this takes place in the span of one night. To serve as an explanation we're told, "And that's why, thanks to Mickey we have cake every morning." Why is slipping out of his clothes necessary as part of the story? I have no idea.

I know the boy showed nude is very young, but still one particular page stands out as a clear example of why nudity is not necessary in this children's book. Especially questionable, this page reads, "Now Mickey in the night kitchen cried, Cock a doodle doo!" Right on this page is a picture of Mickey standing forward with his penis visibly shown in this picture. Although a child may not catch on to this suggestive statement and alternative name for a penis, it provides the story with little if any additional edge.

Besides the nudity that makes this controversial, the story itself did not hold my interest. I found the story to be random and insignificant in comparison to many of the other children's books I have read recently. However, the setup of the text is noteworthy. The words appear in comic-book like format with a white rectangular box over the words, and few words appear on each page. Written in 1970, this books is still in print. For me though overall, with or without nudity, this book does little for me in terms of plot or characters. Only the pictures and layout of this book was unique.