Behind the Museum Door: Poems to Celebrate the Wonders of Museums

Reviewed by Brianne Plach (age 9) for Reader Views (5/07) Why do we have to go to the museum anyway? That sounds like a boring field trip! You have probably said it yourself. A museum isn't as much fun as going to a water park, stadium or a state park. What lies within the museum's walls have a history all their own. Lee Bennett Hopkins has selected a wide range of poems about museums in this collection. "Behind the Museum Door" talks about things like a suit of armor, mummies, Native Americans, forms of art and a whole bunch more. Stacey Dressen-Mc Queen has brought every poem to life with her bright colors and children smiling and enjoying each part of the museum. "Behind the Museum Door" would be a great addition to primary-grade classrooms to help introduce the children to a museum experience before going on a field trip. This book is written for younger kids than this reviewer but it's an enjoyable book for young children. You never know what exciting things can lie within the museum walls. Reading the book "Behind the Museum Door" is almost as much fun as discovering what lies behind the museum's door.

Behind the Museum Door: Poems to Celebrate the Wonders of Museums is a hodgepodge of poems written by such diverse and lauded individuals as Jane Yolen, Myra Cohn Livingston, and Rebecca Kai Dotlich, and illustrated with unforgettable acrylic and oil pastel artwork by award-winning artist Stacey Dessen-McQueen, all celebrating the treasury of knowledge, wisdom and wonder in museums. Each two-page spread features a different poem and theme, in this lovely read-aloud anthology that makes the perfect souvenir for a child's museum visit. "Stirring Art: Beauty / suspended in / suspense. // A breath of air / awakens / lifeless form - // See / it / dance."

Behind the museum door: poems to celebrate the wonders of museums Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Stacey Dressen-McQueen. Previously published and new poems by the likes of Myra Cohn Livingston, Lilian Moore, Jane Yolen, and J. Patrick Lewis celebrate the many treasures found in museums. Lee Bennett Hopkins starts with his poem, Behind the Museum Door that lists some of these treasures: "Ancient necklaces, African art, armor of knights, a peasant cart", and all these objects are vibrantly illustrated in a two-page spread. Beverly McLoughland in her poem, Suit of Armor pens: In its human shape of molded steel, It looks as though There's someone real Inside. You Knock: "Hello in there," And hear a dull Echo of air As though a voice Were drifting through The lonely centuries To you. A girl stares wonderingly at the suit of armor and in the background a knight on a horse fights a dragon. Another poem, Stirring Art shows multicultural children dancing underneath a mobile. Beauty suspended in suspence. A breath of air Awakens Lifeless form-- See it dance. O Trilobite by Alice Schertle is an ode to these little microscopic creatures. She begins her poem with: O trilobite, there are a few, here in the Fossil Room, of you. Once billions strong you ruled the sea, A Cambrian Age majority. Trilobites swim across a dark page surrounding the words that are set against a teal background. Multicultural children, although their facial expressions are not very distinctive from one another, reveal in posture their pleasure as they point excitedly to exhibits; some children hold hands or stand with their arms across the shoulders of their friends. These twelve poems encourage an appreciation for the wonders of museums. They can be read aloud, however; there often is a bit of clutter in the illustrations that requires closer examination. Behind the museum door: poems to celebrate the wonders of museums Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Stacey Dressen-McQueen. Previously published and new poems by the likes of Myra Cohn Livingston, Lilian Moore, Jane Yolen, and J. Patrick Lewis celebrate the many treasures found in museums. Lee Bennett Hopkins starts with his poem, Behind the Museum Door that lists some of these treasures: "Ancient necklaces, African art, armor of knights, a peasant cart", and all these objects are vibrantly illustrated in a two-page spread. Beverly McLoughland in her poem, Suit of Armor pens: In its human shape of molded steel, It looks as though There's someone real Inside. You Knock: "Hello in there," And hear a dull Echo of air As though a voice Were drifting through The lonely centuries To you. A girl stares wonderingly at the suit of armor and in the background a knight on a horse fights a dragon. Another poem, Stirring Art shows multicultural children dancing underneath a mobile. Beauty suspended in suspen