YOU CAN’T TAKE A BALLOON INTO THE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

This marvelous addition to the series celebrates the highlights of Boston landmarks and art, all with the irrepressible humor of this sister team. Our young adventurer has visited the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. Now, she and her brother are exploring a new museum, just as unwelcome to balloon visitors as the others. Leaving her balloon with her grandmother, the girl and her brother explore the museum’s works with their grandfather, while outside, chaos ensues as the balloon gets loose and floats about the city, passing Boston’s most famous landmarks along the way. Life parallels art through Glasser’s clever drawings. As the children view Rembrandt’s Artist in His Studio, Grandma passes by a painter in the Public Gardens. And Dubuffet’s modernist sculpture L’Enqueteur bears a remarkable resemblance to the baseball catcher at the ballpark. The chase culminates in an uproarious scene at Fenway Park involving the entire cast of characters Grandma has met—and all in the middle of a Red Sox vs. Yankees game, of course. The beauty of this wordless escapade is that the story will be new with each person’s reading. Added to that are wonderful details, like the hidden drawings of 33 famous men and women who played a part in Boston’s history and development. The faithful reproductions found in the text introduce young readers to some of the works of art that can be found at the MFA, while the lively illustrations give an impromptu tour of Boston’s sites. Glasser’s mixture of color, and pen-and-ink drawings make details pop off the pages and the characters come alive. The text includes a list of the reproduced artwork, a map of Boston tracing the journey of the balloon, and brief biographical sketches of the famous people hidden in its pages. Great fun. (Picture book. 5-10)