Although Barbara Lehman uses bright, vivid colors throughout her illustrations, she still manages to make some objects stand out in Museum Trip, and each illustration is important to the story. They start on the imprint pages of the book where a class of children files onto the bus for the trip to the museum.
A boy is left behind at the museum by his class when he stops to tie his shoe. As readers of Museum Trip, we are privy to what he gets up to as he searches for his classmates.
He enters a secret door in the museum which takes him to a display of mazes. He finds himself reduced in size and works his way through each of the mazes before meeting up with his class again. There are six separate mazes within the story which children will love to trace through.
There could be so many interpretations of this story and so many questions that could be asked. A few that come to my mind: Is searching through a museum to find your class like making your way through a maze? Does this book teach the reader that a Museum is a place of wonder?
Museum trip emits much symbolism, particularly when it comes to the imagination. The ending will leave children wondering whether the boy’s experience was real or imagined.
You might also be interested in other Wordless Picture Books.
Book Details:
Museum Trip
Buy online from The Book Depository or The Nile
Barbara Lehman
ISBN:978-0618581252
Format: Hardcover, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 2006
RRP: $21.95 (AUD)
