Chicken Soup with Rice

Chicken Soup with Rice
by
Maurice Sendak
paperback plus book set to music by folk singer Carole King

I knew that Maurice Sendak wrote this book, but I had no idea that Carole King set the book to music! Apparently a kindergarten teacher I know already knew this because she has her students perform the song in class to learn the months of the year. She has a huge copy of this book - it is something like 2 foot tall by 18 inches wide. I used to have a tiny version of this book that was about 3 inches tall by 3 inches wide.
I don't think this is Sendak's greatest book, but I suppose it does work to teach the months. It is pretty much a poem about silly things that can happen during different months of the year.

Outside over There

Outside over There
by
Maurice Sendak

Caldecott Honor Book
Children's Fiction, ages 2-6.

This is a fine children's book that is lyrical and fantastic. The heroine saves her sister from goblins through the use of music in a plot that seems so familiar, yet has Sendak's unique take. It was hard to read aloud, however. The sentences are not formed in the usual way, so some practice was needed to get the rhythm and sound right. Where is the subject and verb? Certainly the author takes prose liberties with language.
I can imagine that plenty of children have acted out the plot of this book after having it read to them or reading it themselves - especially if there is a toddler in the household. Children certainly could make up more stories set in the world of "Outside Over There".
The artwork is splendid. I think I would enjoy having prints of this book hanging on my office or home walls.
I could imagine someone basing a ballet on this book.
Although the publisher does not market this book this way, Sendak has said that he considers this to be number 3 in his finest trilogy. I would assume that eventually they would be published together in some kind of collected works.
1. Where the Wild Things Are
2. In the Night Kitchen
3. Outside over There

In the Night Kitchen

In the Night Kitchen
by
Maurice Sendak
ages 3-5
Caldecott Honor Book

This must be the one that certain parents protested over the naked body of the boy. This is a silly book in which a boy named Mickey imagines a lovely land of cake dough and milk. The bakers all look alike and resemble W. C. Fields or Oliver Hardy - jovial men. Maurice Sendak said he considered this book and another to be a trilogy that started with "Where the Wild Things Are". Sometimes this book and "Wild Things" are published together in one binding.

Where the Wild Things Are

Where the Wild Things Are
by
Maurice Sendak
Children's fantasy fiction ages 3-5

I had to read this since it has been something like 20 years since I last cracked open this book. I may go see the movie if I ever have time.
ROWWWR! Did I scare you?
Max is sent to his room and imagines all kinds of monsters that he can command and who love to romp (unlike his mother).
The back flap says it is part one of a trilogy with
2. In the Night Kitchen and
3. Outside Over There.
I think I vaguely remember #2 but not #3. They were published in 1963, 1970, and 1981, respectively. This probably explains why my memory is so poor. I guess I need to get on the library's hold list for #2 and #3. There was a wait for #1 since the movie is now out.

They are short enough, I don't see why, if this is a trilogy, they aren't published as 3 books in 1. I am a bit befuddled by the jacket author saying this is a trilogy. I remember we had a boxed set and it did not include these together. Looking in my library's catalog, I do not see that they are linked together.

I found this commentary:
http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/1999/10/31/26082.html
<Sendak considers Where The Wild Things Are to be the first in a trilogy of books, which also includes In The Night Kitchen (1970) and Outside Over There (1981). Sendak’s trilogy is not a traditional one. The stories stand alone, the characters are unrelated, and the style of illustration differs markedly from one book to the next. Instead, Sendak feels the books are a trilogy because they deal with the same theme: the emotional and psychological life of children seen through a child’s eyes. >

Okay. I guess if the author says so...

P. S. I didn't see any nakedness in this one. It must have been "In the Night Kitchen" that sent the censors into a tizzy.