MuseumChick | Danee Gilmartin

As a short departure from my usual stories, I will be putting up reviews of kids' books that I think are entertaining for adults and kids as well as educational. If you're not interested or don't have kids, don't worry, I will be back to my typical posts next time. But for those with your own kids or have kids in your family, I think you will find these books very entertaining. 

FYI-I didn't receive any compensation for this book review. I personally stumbled upon this book and think that it is something parents as well as kids will find entertaining as well as being educational.

Walking around the 7th arrondissement, in and out of charming Parisian shops looking for a perfect anniversary card for my hubby (it will be two years at the end of this month) lead me to a book shop.

I just love comical kids' books with adult themes. I think you will really enjoy this one that I found. Adults will find it quirky and amusing and kids will find it fun, plus it's a great way to introduce them to art. 

The book is called Miss Lisa and it's from the Musée du Louvre publishing. The French edition is called Mademoiselle Lisa. The text and illustrations are by Delphine Perret and for kids approximately 3-35 years old. 

Miss Lisa provides a great introduction for kids to the Leonardo da Vinci masterpiece, the Mona Lisa. It provides a humorous context of who "Miss Lisa" is then goes on to tell the story of how she had a great job but felt she was in a rut, moved to America and found a new job.

My favorite part is the beginning. It reads "Miss Lisa was a proper young lady. She had a serious occupation. She provided a prime quality smile (she had even been elected several times employee of the month)."

The story shows how Miss Lisa was tired of her job and left to pursue something more interesting, then shows Miss Lisa with a new blond hair-do at a casino.

She moves to America, gets a cowboy hat and finds a cute neighbor she likes. How clever and funny is that?! I laughed so much in the book shop.

I don't think you can find this book outside of France but you can order it from the Boutique de Musée and have it shipped.

©2010 Danee Gilmartin All rights reserved

I think most museums are appropriate and stimulating for children (depending on the child's interests and attention span) regardless of whether it is labeled a "children's museum". Some museums I've visited are especially kid friendly (I use my husband as a tester). Since getting children to museums in order to enhance their art and culture education is so important, I have put together 5 tips to help make it a little easier for you to get your children involved with museums…

1. Check online to see if kids' admission is free. It usually is, making for a very economical outing. (Even cheaper than seeing a movie).

2. Get children a museum audio guide. Some museums also have kid friendly audio guides, taking the work of explaining and educating off of you. I understand they may not keep it on for long but I'm always surprised to see how occupied even very young children look when they are walking around with their own audio guide.

3. Form simple games to play with kids that incorporate the museum collection, such as a scavenger hunt or quiz. This will keep them occupied and get them engaged with visual arts and collections.

4. Check online for dates/times for kids' programs. Engaging kids in museum programs helps make the collection accessible and understandable.

5. Don't be discouraged if your child is handicapped. New developments for braille artwork panels, audio guides for the hearing impaired and accessible buildings are making it easier for the handicapped to get more out of museum visits.

©2010 Danee Gilmartin All rights reserved