Treasures at the Museum by Deborra Richardson and illustrated by George Hilton III

Robbie and Brittany are heading to the museum with their Aunt Imani, but Robbie doesn't want to go! He thinks it's going to be boring and that he won't have anything in common with the archives. But Aunt Imani explains that museums aren't the only things that have archives and collections - people have them too! And who knows what kinds of treasures they might find at the museum?

This is a fun look at museums and archives and a great introduction to the Smithsonian for children. It successfully takes what could be big, impersonal concepts ('what is an archive?') and makes them easy for children to relate to. Given the specialized subject matter, it's a bit hard to picture kids picking up this on their own to read for fun (not that it's not a fun book!), but teachers interested in using it with classes will find some supplementary material at the end of the story to help them with their lesson plans. This would be a great addition to classroom or school libraries, particularly if visiting a museum or archive is part of your school field trip plans.

I received a review copy from NetGalley courtesy of The Elevator Group.

Read it with:
Ulysses Kay: A Bio-Bibliography by Deborra Richardson
Lost in the Museum: Buried Treasures and the Stories They Tell by Nancy Moses
The Rarest of the Rare: Stories Behind the Treasures at the Harvard Museum of Natural History by Nancy Pick and Mark Sloan
A Kid's Guide to the Smithsonian edited by Ann Phillips Bay and Barbara Hehner