Here’s another one of my favorite museums: Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts: Realistic recreation of a village in the 18th century. I did an internship here one summer.
museums
Favorite museums, part one
In that same interview that asked me about favorite fantasy novels, I was also asked to share my favorite museums. I chose ten of them. Here’s the first, although these aren’t in any set order.
The Story Museum, Oxford: A museum with exhibitions, activities, and programs dedicated to stories and storytelling. I am actually cheating here. I’ve never been but after following them on Facebook, I long to go.
For instance, here’s an article about this wonderful exhibit “Animal: a safari through stories” currently featured at the Story Museum. “It’s time we gave wolves their bite back, says author Geraldine McCaughrean, and a new exhibition does just that. Bring your axe, Little Red Riding Hood…”
Favorite Books about Museums II
Earlier I noted my favorite books about museums for adult readers. For young readers, I particularly enjoy Masterpiece by Elise Broach, in which James and a beetle named Marvin prevent a crime at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and, of course, everyone’s favorite museum novel, E.L Konigsburg’s From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, also set at the Met.
Mailbag Questions #2
Q. What are your favorite books about museums, written for adults?
A. Jane Langton, who also writes for children, wrote a series of very entertaining mysteries set in and around museums: Emily Dickinson is Dead (the Emily Dickinson House Museum in Amherst, MA); Dead as a Dodo (Oxford University Museum); and Murder at the Gardner (the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston). Here’s a listing of all of Ms. Gardner’s Homer Kelly mysteries.
