Poetry Friday: Behind the Museum Door
I'm a museum person: I'll look at just about anything if it's behind glass and has a little plaque. Fortunately for me (and for the kids, who also get to go there on field trips), we live within frequent visiting distance of the Smithsonian Institution and its complex of wonderful--and free--museums. The 14 poems in Behind the Museum Door: Poems to Celebrate the Wonders of Museums, selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Stacey Dressen-McQueen (Abrams, 2007), are framed by a school visit to a museum whose exhibits range from mummies to moccasins, fine art to fossils. My favorite (poem, if not exhibit) is Alice Schertle's "O Trilobite." Against a dark blue background teeming with the little critters, these are the opening lines:
O trilobite, there are a few,
here in the Fossil Room, of you.
Once billions strong, you ruled the sea,
a Cambrian Age majority.
In print, the left margin of the poem's lines forms a gentle convex curve, like the shape of a trilobite's shell.
I love Stacey Dressen-McQueen's rich and expressive artwork, made with acrylic paint, oil pastel, and colored pencils. The multicultural group of children she's painted here is clearly delighted with their trip to museum. I would be, too.
Anamaria
5 Comments
Reader Comments (5)
i so adore that you all live so close to museum central. what a delicious resource for the whole family!
A lifetime ago, when I was young and single, I lived on Capitol Hill and loved to spend my weekends at the museums!
My kids and I have been waiting a while for interlibrary loan to send this book through, so I'm glad to hear the good review -- it's worth waiting for, it seems!
This sounds like a good one to look for--thanks!
I love museums too. I dreamed of being an archaeologist in Greece. My kids are still too little to go to the great museums- but soon! And this book sounds like a great introduction.
Thank you for commenting, everyone; it's so nice to hear from other museum people. This book would be a great read in conjunction with a class or family visit to a museum (obviously); you and your kids might even be inspired to add your own ekphrastic poem to the collection! Be sure to let me know if you do.