The book's reception

"Outside Over There...received both praise and censure for its harrowing depiction of an infant turned to ice and kidnapped by goblins" (The Atlantic).

Outside Over There was Sendak’s first picturebook that was marketed to both children and adults. For Sendak, who loathed the conventional divisions between adulthood and childhood worlds, this was a huge success (Lanes and Morton 235).

Awards won:

  • Caldecott Honor Book
  • ALA Notable Children’s Book
  • Library of Congress Children’s Books
  • Boston Globe–Horn Book Award
  • Horn Book Fanfare
  • American Book Award
  • School Library Journal Best Book
  • New York Times Best Illustrated Book
  • National Book Award

(Harper Collins Canada)

Despite winning numerous awards, Outside Over There was received with both enthusiasm and concern for its mature themes and suggestive content.

Indeed, the book contains, to name a few: a baby being kidnapped, absent parents, textual and pictorial references to goblins making a baby their bride, and goblins shown as babies being drowned.

The New York Times noted, upon the book’s publication, "Can "Outside Over There" really be a children's book, some readers must be wondering by now. If so, is it appropriate for a children's book to be raising such questions?"

Three years after it was published, in 1984, the scholar Geraldine DeLuca described Sendak's depictions of Ida as "impressive," but continued to call "other aspects of the story [as] disturbing," and “horrifying,” which led her to question whether it should be considered suitable for a young audience (16).

Challenges

According to Freedom to Read and the Secret Society of Books, Outside Over There was challenged for “nudity, religion, and witchcraft,” goblins marrying a baby, negligent parents, and for being “scary and unsettling.”

Freedom to Read documents that in 2010, a patron challenged the book in an Ontario public library and asked for it to be removed from the library’s collection. The patron claimed that the book was “age inappropriate,” citing the goblins on “nearly every page,” “goblins marrying a baby,” “the useless parents,” and continued, “It’s very disconcerting as an adult; hard to know the effect on children, but it could be scary and unsettling for young audiences too.”  

The library retained the book on the grounds that Sendak was a reputable and award-winning author. They concluded that the book is “Not intended to frighten, but to explore feelings. [The] goblins [are] revealed as babies at the end of book.”

Reactions from Publication to Present (2024)

  • 1981 New York Times Review: New York Times gives an overview of the story's themes and allusions: "Sendak's illustrations are evocative in so many different ways..."
  • 1981 Kirkus Reviews' Review: This review focuses on the illustrations: "There's so much to see, much to feel, much to follow..."
  • 2012 NPR Review: "Adults know too much about a world where horrific things do happen, and prefer to think that young children need no more exposure to peril and uncertainty:" In this review, Amanda Katz compares her childhood response to Outside Over There with her response to it as an adult.
  • 2010 Pickle Me This Blog: "I read Outside Over There and my immediate reaction was, 'Ban the thing!'" 
  • 2012 We Read it Like This Blog: "I asked myself whether I really wanted to read it to my son..." 
  • 2024 Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub Blog: "I wouldn't necessarily recommend it..."

As these sources show, reactions to this book have remained fairly consistent over time, revealing the often impulsive tendency of adults to "protect" their children from strange and unsettling stories.

Sources

“Banned Books.” Secret Society of Books. 2 Oct. 2020. https://www.secretsocietyofbooks.com/banned-books/. Accessed 10 July 2024.

“Challenges to Publications in Canadian Public Libraries.” Freedom to Read. 2024. https://www.freedomtoread.ca/resources/challenges-to-publications-in-canadian-public-libraries/. Accessed 10 July 2024.

DeLuca, Geraldine. “Exploring the Levels of Childhood: The Allegorical Sensibility of Maurice Sendak.” Children’s Literature, vol. 12, 1984, pp. 3-24. doi.org/10.1353/chl.0.0260.

Duthie, E. "Outside Over There: "But never watched"." We Read It Like This. 14 June 2012. https://wereaditlikethis.blogspot.com/2012/06/outside-over-there-but-never-watched.html. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.

Fassler, Joe. “Maurice Sendak Scared Children Because He Loved Them.” The Atlantic, 9 May 2012. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/05/maurice-sendak-scared-children-because-he-loved-them/256928/. Accessed 22 July 2024.

"Freedom to Read Week: Outside Over There by Maurice Sendak." Pickle Me This. 1 March 2010. https://picklemethis.com/2010/03/01/freedom-to-read-week-outside-over-there-by-maurice-sendak/. Accessed 1 Aug. 2024.

Lanes, Selma G., and Robert Morton. The Art of Maurice Sendak. Abrams, 1980.

Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher. "Books of the Times: OUTSIDE OVER THERE. By Maurice Sendak. Unpaginated. Harper & Row. $12.95." New York Times. 1 June 1981. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/01/books/books-of-the-times-139237.html?smid=url-share. Accessed 15 July 2024.

Katz, Amanda. "Who's Afraid of Sendak's Stories? Adults, Mostly." NPR. 9 May 2012. https://www.npr.org/2012/05/09/152346819/on-not-fearing-the-dark-in-sendaks-outside. Accessed 20 July 2024.

"Outsive Over There by Maurice Sendak." Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub. 7 April 2024. https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2024/04/07/outside-over-there-by-maurice-sendak/. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.

"Outside Over There." Harper Collins Canada. https://www.harpercollins.ca/9780060255237/outside-over-there/. Accessed 3 July 2024.

"Outside Over There." Kirkus Reviews. 1 May 1981. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/maurice-sendak/outside-over-there/. Accessed 20 July 2024.

The book's reception