Children’s Books Children’s Museums I

I don’t remember when or where, but a long time ago, I went to an exhibit that had a very hungry caterpillar that children could crawl through and a night kitchen that children could play in. I loved these so much I was inspired to create versions of them in my toddler classroom. So I was disappointed when representatives of the soon to be built Eric Carle museum who came to our school to talk about the new museum stressed very strongly that it would not be a children’s museum but a serious museum for children’s book art. I love the Eric Carle museum, and I do notice that after a few years, they have begun to invite (allow?) some aspects of children’s museums into their galleries, but I also love to see children’s books get the total children’s museum treatment. Last year, the Chicago Children’s Museum hosted a Storyland Exhibit that featured seven of my favorite books.

Since the room for the rotating exhibits is not that large, the If You Give a Mouse a Cookie pieces were out in the hall, which is why I was so excited this year to hear about a new museum dedicated entirely to children’s books. And even though it is in Kansas City, I knew I had to find a way to go…