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September 29, 2007: Banned Books Week

Today marks the start of “Banned Books Week.” In celebrating our freedom to read and think, I thought I’d offer a few stories about my favorite books that others have challenged. I’ll try and do this over the next week. (We’ll see how that works. Heh heh.)

The first book on my list--and coming in at #25 on the American Library Association’s  “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books”--is Maurice Sendak’s “In the Night Kitchen.” Wikipedia explains the controversy behind “In the Night Kitchen”:

Critics of the book object to Mickey's nudity, with some librarians drawing little pants on Mickey with a marker, or diapers with correction fluid. Some also take a Freudian interpretation of events, with the nudity, free-flowing milky fluids, and giant (allegedly phallic) milk bottle.

I had never heard about the allegations of Mickey’s “pen and ink” underwear until earlier this year. That’s when I discovered that a copy of “In the Night Kitchen” that my wife and I had checked out of our local library included the altered version of Mickey. In fairness to our local library, it’s possible that a patron defaced the book. I should also add that I have since found another copy of the same book at this library that nobody has altered.

I’ve always enjoyed “In the Night Kitchen,” and would rank it as my second favorite Sendak book (with “Where the Wild Things Are” ranking first, of course). As a child, I had a copy of “In the Night Kitchen” that my parents read to me, and it did not include the “pen and ink” underpants. My mom and dad read this book to me many, many times. And I can assure you that as a result of having been read this book--and reading it on my own--that I have never made a naked high dive into a ginormous container of milk at any time in my life. Nor have I had any urge to do so.

I must say, however, that I do get very, very thirsty for milk every time I read “In the Night Kitchen” to our children. Maybe someone should let the dairy farmers know, huh?