In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak

The award winning 1970 children’s book, In the Night Kitchen, by illustrator Maurice Sendak is a take and homage to early the 20th century way of life and a spice of his own vision of his youth . The book was banned in many libraries because of light nudity of Mickey the main character. Some went as far as to black out any genitalia with a marker. Winsor McCay’s comic strip of the early 1900s, Little Nemo in Slumberland, was the inspiration of the book as a journey into Maurice’s childhood.  Many scholars examined the book on many levels of hidden meaning which are many and led to a ban that deemed the book to be of sexual ambiguity and exploration in youth. The animated version is void of certain elements but paying close attention will reveal the mild implications of youthful discovery of the world around them.  Read more >>