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MAYHEM AT THE MUSEUM

Name: MAYHEM AT THE MUSEUM
Author: Hannah Brückner
ISBN: 9780735845855

by Hannah Brückner ; illustrated by Hannah Brückner ; translated by Laura Watkinson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2025

Warmly witty fare that will elicit smiles from anyone who’s ever committed a public gaffe.

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The unthinkable happens during a museum visit.

Clad in a red cap, the tan-skinned, dark-haired Yuri loves dinosaurs but fears birds. When a parakeet belonging to the coat check attendant flies off to make its nightly rounds, savvy readers might have a clue as to what’s in store. Yuri is balancing on the railing surrounding two enormous skeletons and a third smaller one when it happens—“the really REALLY BIIIIG catastrophe….The kind of catastrophe that makes you think nothing will ever be right again. You feel so quiet. You feel so small.” Spotting the bird, Yuri flinches, and the exhibit is reduced to a pile of bones. The youngster is mortified, but luckily the other museumgoers—a diverse group of adults and children—toil all night, reassembling hundreds (maybe thousands) of bones. In the morning, the group admires their work. “Catastrophe. What catastrophe?” This Swiss import, translated from German, features orderly, elegant illustrations with fine black sketchy outlines. A quirky tone creeps in as Brückner plays with the gutter and concludes her tale on a surprising, whimsical note; her dramatic but ultimately reassuring second-person narration highlights the tragicomic aspects of the story. Be sure to share this one before—or after—a museum visit.

Warmly witty fare that will elicit smiles from anyone who’s ever committed a public gaffe. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025

ISBN: 9780735845855

Page Count: 40

Publisher: NorthSouth

Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S DINOSAURS & PREHISTORIC CREATURES | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

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FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)