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mdevlin923's review against another edition
2.0
Young boy, Mickey, wakes up to loud noises from the bakers downstairs. He falls into the "night kitchen", a dream in which he helps the bakers prepare the morning cake.
Nonsensical and surreal (with some serious and foreboding undertones), I didn't feel like the illustrations and plot matched the upbeat, chanting text.
Nonsensical and surreal (with some serious and foreboding undertones), I didn't feel like the illustrations and plot matched the upbeat, chanting text.
amfrtsedi's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
Sendak’s art is beautiful and does more work than the words. The story reads more fantastical/dreamy than grounded.
kathydavie's review
5.0
A standalone picture book with warm and cozy illustrations of a populated kitchen with an heroic Mickey dreaming to the rescue.
In 1970, In the Night Kitchen won the Best Books of 1970, Outstanding Children's Books of 1970, Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1970, Children's Books of 1970 (Library of Congress), and Notable Children's Books of 1940–1970. In 1971, it won the Caldecott Honor Book and received an Honor Citation for the Carey-Thomas Award. In 1973 and 1975, it won the Brooklyn Art Books for Children. In 1982, it won the Vlag en Wimpel Penseeljury. And it's one of those awarded books that truly deserve it!
My Take
Just like Mickey, I was falling — into the story's illustrations, fascinated by the "kitchen" Sendak created. I loved the buildings of pantry goodies with mixing blades, light bulb cages, and handles acting as building toppers in those warm, soft browns and reds.
The kids will get a perverse giggle out of a full-frontal Mickey landing in the cake batter *snicker*. (There is/was a lot of controversy about this and resulted in In the Night Kitchen becoming a banned book. I can understand why conservatives who react without thought would freak, but I don't see that it's a big deal (no pun intended *grin*) And like I said, the kids will find it funny.)
There is a lot of imagination in Sendak's In the Night Kitchen, from its pantry-product buildings with their appliance toppers. The crazy chefs who simply see Mickey as yet another ingredient out of which he must escape. I suspect the kids will get another laugh at the idea of being baked in a cake. Makes me think of that nursery rhyme, "Sing a Song of Sixpence", with its own version of pie, *laughing*.
See if the kids can find the inspiration for Mickey's bread dough plane.
Yep, that Mickey's a hero, and I did enjoy the "seals" (front and back) of a heroic Mickey in his cake batter suit!
Who knew so much went on in the kitchen at night…and why haven't they visited me!
The Story
It's that thump, dump, clump that wakens our hero who finds himself falling through the house only to land in a bowl of cake batter. At least it's a soft landing!
It's up to our hero to retrieve the missing ingredient. Or else there will be no cake in the morning!
The Characters
Mickey is a child who had been sleeping in his bed until woken by a thump in the night.
A triplet of fat, happy chefs with mustaches all decked out in their cooking whites and hats.
The Cover and Title
The cover is warm and cozy browns with Mickey wearing a milk pitcher on his head and cake batter as a flying suit, soaring in his bread dough airplane over the "city" skyline of beans, bread, cream, cake, and 10¢ coupons. The title is a muted burgundy at the top, arching over the author's name in cocoa brown.
The title is what Mickey discovers In the Night Kitchen.
In 1970, In the Night Kitchen won the Best Books of 1970, Outstanding Children's Books of 1970, Best Illustrated Children's Books of 1970, Children's Books of 1970 (Library of Congress), and Notable Children's Books of 1940–1970. In 1971, it won the Caldecott Honor Book and received an Honor Citation for the Carey-Thomas Award. In 1973 and 1975, it won the Brooklyn Art Books for Children. In 1982, it won the Vlag en Wimpel Penseeljury. And it's one of those awarded books that truly deserve it!
My Take
Just like Mickey, I was falling — into the story's illustrations, fascinated by the "kitchen" Sendak created. I loved the buildings of pantry goodies with mixing blades, light bulb cages, and handles acting as building toppers in those warm, soft browns and reds.
The kids will get a perverse giggle out of a full-frontal Mickey landing in the cake batter *snicker*. (There is/was a lot of controversy about this and resulted in In the Night Kitchen becoming a banned book. I can understand why conservatives who react without thought would freak, but I don't see that it's a big deal (no pun intended *grin*) And like I said, the kids will find it funny.)
There is a lot of imagination in Sendak's In the Night Kitchen, from its pantry-product buildings with their appliance toppers. The crazy chefs who simply see Mickey as yet another ingredient out of which he must escape. I suspect the kids will get another laugh at the idea of being baked in a cake. Makes me think of that nursery rhyme, "Sing a Song of Sixpence", with its own version of pie, *laughing*.
See if the kids can find the inspiration for Mickey's bread dough plane.
Yep, that Mickey's a hero, and I did enjoy the "seals" (front and back) of a heroic Mickey in his cake batter suit!
Who knew so much went on in the kitchen at night…and why haven't they visited me!
The Story
It's that thump, dump, clump that wakens our hero who finds himself falling through the house only to land in a bowl of cake batter. At least it's a soft landing!
It's up to our hero to retrieve the missing ingredient. Or else there will be no cake in the morning!
The Characters
Mickey is a child who had been sleeping in his bed until woken by a thump in the night.
A triplet of fat, happy chefs with mustaches all decked out in their cooking whites and hats.
The Cover and Title
The cover is warm and cozy browns with Mickey wearing a milk pitcher on his head and cake batter as a flying suit, soaring in his bread dough airplane over the "city" skyline of beans, bread, cream, cake, and 10¢ coupons. The title is a muted burgundy at the top, arching over the author's name in cocoa brown.
The title is what Mickey discovers In the Night Kitchen.
lidiaaa222's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
jgintrovertedreader's review
4.0
Young Mickey hears a noise deep in the night and finds himself falling into the Night Kitchen, where he has to help the cooks get the milk into the batter.
What a fun little book! I never read much Sendak when I was little for some reason, so this was completely new to me. The illustrations were tons of fun, of course. The kitchen is set against a "skyline" of boxes of cake mix, tall salt shakers, and an elevated bread train. They're perfectly whimsical for this book. I imagine children would love the story of little Mickey saving the day. I know I did! How much fun is it to imagine that only you can accomplish something important while the world, including your parents, is sleeping? It should also be a great book to read aloud. It's short and to the point and rhymes just enough to roll off the tongue.
I highly recommend this one to parents with young children as a fun little bedtime story.
What a fun little book! I never read much Sendak when I was little for some reason, so this was completely new to me. The illustrations were tons of fun, of course. The kitchen is set against a "skyline" of boxes of cake mix, tall salt shakers, and an elevated bread train. They're perfectly whimsical for this book. I imagine children would love the story of little Mickey saving the day. I know I did! How much fun is it to imagine that only you can accomplish something important while the world, including your parents, is sleeping? It should also be a great book to read aloud. It's short and to the point and rhymes just enough to roll off the tongue.
I highly recommend this one to parents with young children as a fun little bedtime story.
jaij7's review against another edition
4.0
Well, it’s definitely got a catchy rhythm to the words. The pictures are a bit strange. Definitely cracked us up.
mommyre's review against another edition
4.0
I am reading through a list of banned books and this one was on it. I can't find any reason to ban it. It's a children's book, and it doesn't have anything inherently bad in it. It might be a little scary, but it's just a book.