Sleepover at the Museum

A set of rhymed riddles sends young Mason pelting through a natural history museum in search of both solutions and the best place for his birthday sleepover.Joined by friends Will and Zoe at the museum's entrance, Mason starts out with a "Dino Fossil Dig" in the Discovery Room's sandbox. Equipped with headlamps and a fold-out map, the kids then dash down darkened halls (museum employee Jesse in tow) to marvel at models of Saturn, a T. Rex, and a dodo; wild-animal exhibits; live butterflies; and other wonders. After winding up in the party room for cake, Mason and his pals bed down beneath a huge blue whale suspended from the ceiling. As the explorers somehow never get to the Hall of Human Origins or the ethnographic exhibits marked on the endpaper floor plans, this has its limits as a model itinerary for a visit to a real science museum, where evolutionary science is covered and, perhaps, some humans are uncovered. More problematically, the illustrations mislead or include actual errors: "Just look at the diamonds sparkle!" Zoe enthuses, gazing at a jumble of large, elongated blue crystals. Elsewhere, a set of "extinct predators" includes two herbivores, a group labeled "African Elephant" seems to include at least two of the Asian subspecies, and all of the visible exhibits in the Hall of Dinosaurs are fleshed-out models rather than skeletons. A substantial list of natural history and other types of museums with sleepover programs at the end offers leads to more authentic experiences. Mason and Zoe present white; Will presents black; and Jesse presents Asian.Bland, hypercautious, and sloppy. (Picture book. 6-8)

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December 1, 2018

Gr 1-4-Mason is celebrating his birthday with his best friends Zoe and Will at the Natural History Museum. Their tour guide has created a series of riddles and, if the group solves them all, Mason will be allowed to pick out where they will sleep during their overnight stay. As the adventurous trio traverse the museum answering riddles and exploring each exhibit, Mason tries to figure out which exhibit would make the coolest spot for a sleepover. LeFrak's delightful tale will inspire children to visit museums and to explore new concepts on their own. The plot is simple and fun as readers try to guess the answers to the riddles and guess via hidden clues which exhibit Mason will eventually choose. There is some higher-level vocabulary, but it is easily understandable through the illustrations. Bucs has created some fantastically entertaining spreads highlighting a child's view of museums. Each picture gives details to the story, revealing more about museums and the characters' journey. He has hidden multiple clues as to the final exhibition throughout his drawings and map, and if kids watch the shadows they can see another story unfold as Mason and his friends continue their quest. Overall, this is a whale of a tale to hopefully inspire more museum trips for children and spark some inquisitive minds. VERDICT A good selection to pique children's interest in a scientific field, as well as inspire them to have their own adventures.-Margaret Kennelly, iSchool at Urbana-Champaign, IL

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November 1, 2018
Grades K-2 For Mason's birthday, his parents take him and two friends, Will and Zoe, for a sleepover at the Natural History Museum, where their personal guide sends them on a scavenger hunt to explore the exhibits and choose a spot for sleeping. Rhyming clues lead them to the Earth and Space Room, the Hall of Dinosaurs, the Hall of African Mammals, and several more. After completing their mission, they celebrate Mason's birthday in the party room before bedding down for the night. The story moves at a good pace, and readers can also trace the action on the endpapers, which offer attractive, detailed floor plans of the museum, along with a key identifying 12 locations featured in the book. In the digital artwork, the characters' expressions are exaggerated in a cartoonlike manner, but the illustrations achieve subtler, more creative, and more amusing effects with the use of varied perspectives and, especially, light and shadows. An appended section introduces 10 American natural history museums and a dozen other institutions that offer sleepovers. An imaginative introduction to visiting museums.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)