SLEEPOVER AT THE MUSEUM, by Karen Lefrak and David Bucs, Crown Books for Young Readers, Jan. 15, 2019, Hardcover, $17.99 (ages 3-7)
There’s more to museums than meets the eye, especially at night. In Sleepover at the Museum three friends get to explore a museum when no one else is there.
What’s the best way to celebrate a birthday? For Mason, it’s having a sleepover at the museum of natural history, his favorite place to visit.
Not only do Mason and his friends get to sleepover, but if they complete a scavenger hunt, Mason will get to choose where inside the museum they’ll sleep. You’d think choosing a place to rest your head would be easy, but Saturn is far from home and extinct predators are a bit scary. If only butterflies didn’t tickle your nose while you slept…
It takes a while to choose, but Mason and his friends have a blast solving mysteries and settling in for the night.
I think sleeping over at any kind of museum — science, natural history, curiosity — is every kid’s dream come true. To be able to explore without the crowds and not have to be quiet and have cake is pretty awesome. Sleepover at the Museum realizes this dream and sends imaginations flying.
Sleepover at the Museum isn’t cutesy or filled with rhymes. In a way, it feels like a very pared down chapter book, which makes it feel a little older than the suggested beginning 3-year-old age range. Don’t let that scare you off. It’s a great introduction to different reading formats, and exposes kids to newer/harder words — behemoth anyone?
Sleepover at the Museum invites readers to join the fun, providing the scavenger hunt clues clearly marked by different font. It’s a fun story and the illustrations are inviting.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND SLEEPOVER AT THE MUSEUM
KAREN LEFRAK is the author of Jake the Philharmonic Dog, Jake the Ballet Dog, and Best in Show. She is an avid dog lover and breeder of champion poodles, as well as a composer of music for ballets and instrumental works around the world. Karen and her husband divide their time between Manhattan, Southampton, and Miami, where they live with their two poodles. For more information visit karenlefrak.com.
DAVID BUCS began his career at KlaskyCsupo, the studio famous for Rugrats and The Wild Thornberrys, and has art directed television series for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, TLC, PBS, and Disney. David loves to create characters and bring them to life using watercolors, colored pencils, and digital media. Sleepover at the Museum is his first children’s book. He lives with his wife and young son in Hershey, Pennsylvania, where life is sweet. You can follow him on Facebook and Twitter, or visit him at davidbucs.com.
