Maurice Sendak (b.1928) is renowned for his fanciful picture books with amazingly detailed illustrations. He’s no stranger to challenges, either. Perhaps his most famous work, Where the Wild Things Are (1963), is perennially challenged because Max is a willful and disobedient child. Even more bizarre, however, is the standard objection to In the Night Kitchen (1970).
The fanciful story of a very young boy’s dream journey through a dream kitchen. The primary objection to the book is that Mickey, the protagonist, falls out of his pyjamas and is naked for several pages. OH NO! Anatomically correct drawings of a naked child! Children will realize that people have body parts! All over the country people excised the offending pages or found creative ways to cover up Mickey. (My favorite story is of a woman who painted diapers on him with Liquid Paper.)
For your own surreal journey, bake your way over to the library or the bookstore.
i never knew this had been banned! i used to love this book when i was little– my mom never got her whiteout out.
I will be there in three minutes with some whiteout!
Quentin loves that book, especially because of the nakedness! That’s the best part!
Wendy, you are such a good mom.