Meet Me at the Art Museum: A Whimsical Look Behind the Scenes

by David Goldin

Overview

After being discarded on the floor of an art museum, Stub (a museum ticket) has nowhere to go until Daisy the docent’s helper (a name tag) finds him and offers him a tour of the museum. Stub meets a badge who keeps the artworks safe, a computer who archives them, and other characters who work there. From the director’s office to the library to the conservator’s studio to the loading dock, Stub discovers who does what, and what goes on, behind the scenes at the museum. He even finds a home for himself among the museum’s many treasures!
David Goldin combines actual artworks by famous artists, found pieces, and digital art to tell Stub’s sweet story. Filled with fun facts and a glossary, the book wonderfully introduces young readers to all that museums have to offer.

Praise for Meet Me at the Art Museum:
"It’s not as if the concept of a museum is obvious to a small child: How did all these paintings get here? Why can’t I touch them? And why is that painting here when it looks like my drawing on the fridge? To the rescue, Daisy, a name-tag docent, gives Stub, a torn ticket, a tour of the basics. Goldin’s easygoing text and clever collaged illustrations make Sunday afternoon excursions so much more explicable."
—New York Times

"An engaging and enlivening introduction for kids and adults alike."
—Kirkus Reviews

"The googly-eyed characters make it quite enjoyable to pick up the book and get a feel for what makes a museum work, explaining both public and private areas."
—Booklist

"The volume offers an adequate overview of museum operations."
—School Library Journal

"The book works best as a basic introduction to what a museum is and how it works; the paintings and sculptures are ID'd on the closing page."
—Publishers Weekly

"Overall, this book will entice children of all ages to want to take a trip to their nearest art museum to learn more about all the great people and things that go on there."
—New York Journal of Books

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781419701870
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	11/01/2012
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 10.20(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

David Goldin is well known for his work with the New Yorker, MTV, Nickelodeon, Disney, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, and many other media outlets. His work has also been included in many exhibitions. He lives in Willow, New York.

Editorial Reviews

Parents drag children to the art museum almost as religiously as they read them bedtime books, convinced of the salutary effects. But it's not as if the concept of a museum is obvious to a small child…Goldin's easygoing text and clever collaged illustrations make Sunday afternoon excursions so much more explicable.

The New York Times Book Review - Pamela Paul

An anthropomorphized name tag named Daisy gives a discarded “Admit One” ticket stub (named Stub) a tour of an art museum—doing the same for readers in the process—in an informative but dry offering from Goldin (Baxter, the Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher). Although Goldin’s fictional museum is packed with famous works of art (van Gogh’s Starry Night and da Vinci’s Mona Lisa sit on the ground beside crates waiting to be unpacked), this isn’t an art history lesson. As Daisy guides Stub through the galleries, she discusses the museum’s layout, operations (including security systems and temperature controls), and various staff responsibilities, from conservators to archivists. The book works best as a basic introduction to what a museum is and how it works; the paintings and sculptures are ID’d on the closing page, but it’s difficult to imagine readers flipping back and forth. Furthermore, with the story’s emphasis on processes and protocols (no touching the art, please!), Daisy and Stub may not inspire much enthusiasm for a day at the museum. Ages 4–8. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

After the art museum closes for the night Stub, a forgotten ticket stub, asks a friendly nametag named Daisy where he is. Daisy is the museum docent's helper, welcoming visitors and taking them on tours. She offers to guide Stub through the museum. Past the coat and backpack checkroom, Daisy explains the picture information signs understood in any language, like no cameras or cell phones. Entering a gallery, they see an exhibition of art works that make Stub think and wonder. Daisy explains that a curator chose them. There are many security checks; Stub is warned not to touch the art. But he is amazed at the many kinds of art from all over the world that are there to see. Daisy notes that an archivist keeps track of what comes in and leaves. She also indicates room for classes, a library, a gift shop, and a repair shop. Suddenly a breeze from a fan blows Stub onto a sticky collage. He has found a perfect home for himself. On the end pages are maps of the two floors of the museum with a line showing Stub's tour. Sharply reproduced color reproductions of the art objects are chosen to illustrate the informative lecture. An artist's note is included in this attractive, entertaining, useful introduction to art museums, as are explanations of the jobs of the staff and vocabulary and information on all the works of art depicted. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

Children's Literature - Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz

K-Gr 3—In this picture-book introduction to art museums, Stub (a ticket stub left behind on the museum floor) meets Daisy (a docent's name tag), who offers to show him around. They tour both public and private sections of the building, including the delivery room, galleries, education room, and cafeteria. Along the way, Daisy gives an overview of the daily operations of a museum, discussing preservation, security, curation, and conservation. At the end of the tour, Stub wanders into the restoration room, where he gets stuck to a collage and inadvertently becomes part of an exhibit himself. Back matter includes a list of the artworks pictured in the book. While the volume offers an adequate overview of museum operations, it is marred by sloppy design and unappealing characters. Stub and Daisy consist of a ticket stub and a name tag, respectively, with painted cartoon faces. Placing them beside works by Van Gogh and Seurat is visually jarring. Jacqueline Preiss Weitzman's You Can't Take a Balloon into the National Gallery (Dial, 2000) and sequels provide a more whimsical introduction to the subject.—Rachael Vilmar, Eastern Shore Regional Library, Salisbury, MD

School Library Journal

True to the subtitle, this book's cover delivers an amusing yet informative tour of an art museum. Once inside, endpapers reveal a museum floor plan complete with iconic signage to both orient youngsters and welcome them to a lively behind-the-scenes tour of an imagined museum. The guides are an old-school–style, green-paper entry ticket named Stub and a pink-and-white "Hello my name is" sticker called Daisy, the museum docent's helper. Daisy takes Stub on a wonderful wander from the coat check through storage, galleries and more. Security and art protection are pleasingly detailed by the anthropomorphized museum security badge (Badge), even as the two continue to check out the museum's kid-pleasing innards: temperature and climate controls, the cafe, water fountains, escalators, museum shop--even the art library. But when Stub wanders off into the conservation lab, a fan blows him into a freshly varnished collage (a humorous takeoff on Matisse's Dancers). Stub gets his wish. Firmly fixed on canvas, Stub is now part of the museum's permanent collection. Author, illustrator and fine artist Goldin collages in a number of iconic, favorite works of art and cleverly enlivens the collection with his own appealing and marvelously amusing sculptural assemblages. An engaging and enlivening introduction for kids and adults alike. ("Who's Who at the Museum," glossary, list of works) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews