IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN

London: The Bodley Head, 1971. Very good plus in very good plus jacket.. First UK edition of the dreamland bedtime adventure and Caldecott Honor book. A surreal exploration of the vivid paths of children's minds as they drift to sleep, IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN is the philosophical sequel to WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and continues that book's revolutionary focus on the inner emotional lives of children. Frequently banned for depicting its protagonist fully nude, IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN takes readers through a lush nonsense world featuring serenely inimical bakers and verses that mimic the rhythms of William Blake's verse. The book's comic-like aesthetic draws heavily from influences in the world of cartooning, most importantly Winsor McCay's early 20th-century comic LITTLE NEMO IN SLUMBERLAND, which Sendak called an "elaborate and audacious fantasy" - IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN is "in part, an homage to Winsor McCay" (Sendak's foreword to WINSOR MCCAY: His Life and Art). A Caldecott Honor book as elaborate and audacious as its influences. 11'' x 8.5''. Original color pictorial boards. In original unclipped (£1.25 net) color pictorial dust jacket. Tan endpapers. Illustrated by Sendak in color throughout; lettering by Diana Blair. [40] pages. Jacket a few small spots of rubbing, one short closed tear repaired with tape to verso. Book with light bumping to extremities. Interior clean.