The Museum Book: A Guide to Strange and Wonderful Collections

by Jan Mark, Richard Holland (Illustrator)

Why do people collect things? This ode to museums mighty and minuscule will draw curious viewers of all ages — and is worthy of collection itself.

What is a museum? Why would anyone amass shells, words, clocks, teeth, trains, dinosaurs, mummies . . . or two-headed sheep? Find out where the word "museum" comes from and what unusual items (unicorn horns? mermaids?) some early museums placed on view. Jan Mark’s humorous and conversational insights take readers through museums’ multifaceted history, while Richard Holland’s eye-catching mixed-media illustrations lend their own quirky flair. With vivid examples from all around the world, this wonderful book puts museums — and the many artifacts lovingly stored there — on display in a whole new light. Back matter includes a glossary and an index.

A Common Core Text Exemplar

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Art, Childrens, History, Museums

56 pages, Hardcover

First published September 25, 2007

About the author

Janet Marjorie Mark (1943-2006) was a British children's author and two time winner of the Carnegie Medal. She also taught art and English in Gravesend, Kent, was part of the faculty of Education at Oxford Polytechnic in the early 1980s and was a tutor and mentor to other writers before her death from meningitis-related septicaemia.

Meet the author:

What is your favourite animal?
The noble rat

What is your favourite boy’s name?
George

What is your favourite girl’s name?
Marjorie

What is your favourite food?
Pickled herring

What is your favourite music?
Klezmer

What is your favourite hobby?
Listening to music

Reviews

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book indeed in which Jan Mark (this was to be her final book) gives us a wonderful tour of the history of the Museum. From its beginnings in the hands of Princess Bel-Shanti to the current day at the Ashmolean, we have here a brief yet deeply fascinating history of the Museum and our constant obsession with cataloging and collecting in an attempt to read and understand the past.

Alongside Holland's mixed-media collages which celebrate the idea of museums also being places in which a mixture of objects are collated and pondered over, Mark's writing makes The Museum Book a little marvel. It isn't just finding out about Peter the Great's obsession with collecting stories of the world through objects or reading about the history of the Wunderkammer that I found engaging but Mark's wonderfully witty and almost informal, rather chatty writing style. She herself sounds like an excited and engaged grandparent taking you around the museum and her last lines on memory and collecting is so clever that it's a wonder that more people aren't talking about this wonderful little gem.

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

July 7, 2008
Jamuary 4, 2015

I love the idea, but the text was disappointing. For example: one page lists the names of nine muses. The next page lists eight fields those muses are in charge of. Qwah? Yes, sure, there's a helpful table on the wiki page explaining who is in charge of which domain. But if I'm actually holding a cool-looking book in my hand, I'm disinclined to put it down and run to the computer. And it is so cool-looking. Kind of a shame to not present the material in a way that makes sense.

Library copy

[Dixie Keyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This "guide to strange and wonderful collections" takes readers on a historical journey back to the first museums through the collections of apothecaries and "chambers of wonders" that displayed the curious for onlookers. Set up in chapters, the writing is paired with a mixed media approach of print and collage to tell various stories of specific museums or cabinets of curiosities. The chapters take readers across the world, from Germany to Sweden to Virginia to England. Readers can learn about "synoptic galleries" and people who began museums for various reasons across history. We learn that an entire city can be a museum and most people started them in a place "to make sense of history where it happened."

The books ends in a way that spotlights the author's style: "Memory is your museum, your cabinet of curiosities, your WUnderkammer. It will never be full; there is always room for something new and strange and marvelous. It will never need dusting. It will last as long as you do…." This was surprisingly engaging book, perfect to introduce museums to children, especially in intermediate and middle grades prior to a field trip to a museum. Maybe it could be the start of a class that begins their own museum?

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, but it felt like the author's information wasn't well organized, especially for a children's book. I almost stopped reading around page 13.
If I were to describe this book to someone, I'd tell them... Jan Mark read a couple of books on the development and evolution of the museum; then wrote a stream-of-consciousness book with ill-fitting illustrations.

[Lenka · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice introduction to museums, their history and meaning (not only) for kids.

[Cadie Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book to go along with our theme. Not sure my kids followed all of it but I enjoyed it!

[Charlotte Lilley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good alternative read about the history of museums

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Large format, with fun illustrations and compelling text, this is a great look at the history and purpose of museums. I'm a huge museum geek, so I loved the run-down of how museums came to be, what kinds of museums exist, and how they've changed over time. The illustrations take up maybe half the space, and compliment the text while still being their own interesting thing, and the text is in several chapters, with a glossary and index. The book ends on a great note, talking about how people often run out of space in museums, and much of the collection in kept in storage, but we each have our own, personal museum - our memory. "Remember Mnemosyne the Titan, mother of the Muses? She was memory. Memory is your museum, your cabinet of curiosities, your Wunderkammer. It will never be full; there is always room for something new and strange and marvelous. It will never need dusting" (p. 48). It's all in that same tone - chatty and informative, not talking down but making sure to explain things. I would guess upper elementary/middle school as a good target audience, or any good reader who's interested in museums or needs a good introduction to them.

[Abby Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

In solid blocks of text and run-on sentences, Mark explores the history of museums. Although it does contain a plethora of interesting facts, the book seemed poorly organized to me, repeating itself occasionally. The mixed media collage illustrations didn't feel like a great match and on at least one occasion a building discussed in the text was not included when all the others were. There's a glossary and index at the end of the book, but no source notes or references. It's altogether possible that this book just didn't strike a chord with me, but I was disappointed.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts with an interesting premise, what would you think if you walked into a building and all you saw were collections of stuff? Maybe the stuff was stuffed...like lions, tigers and bears. Or, maybe the stuff was old...like mummies and fossils. If you didn't know what a museum was, it probably would be a confusing place! The Museum book covers the early history of museums and discuses what your likely to find there. The text and illustrations make this most suitable for school age children, or even adults...I know I learned something!

[Michael Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit too wide-ranging to be useful for children, it veers off course to discuss all kinds of different collections (a dictionary is a museum? well, sort of - but does that merit inclusion here? your memory is a museum? come on!). The illustrations are a bit too Monty Python. An article in a children's encyclopedia would likely do a better job of introducing the idea of a museum.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful art work which coincides with a fascinating look at the history of museums beginning with the Muses. The author somehow weaves different strands throughout out including history of sciences and memorable historical figures like Peter the Great. Something special.

[Mr. V. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned lots of interesting facts from this book, and I found the art intriguing. The writing style felt like it needed some revision. It felt a little dry even though the content was spectacular. Great for kids who love collecting.

[melanie (lit*chick) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still do a good deal of my learning through kids' books. This is no exception.

[Danie P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this simple seven chapter non fiction book about the history of museums and what one puts in museums. Perfect introduction for teens and adults as well if they are interested in museum studies.

[Miri Gifford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really love the way this is written and illustrated. History of museums (and it's much more interesting than it sounds).

[Nancy Breinholt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this book! It tells the history of museums (why are they called museums?) and the good and the bad of museums collecting pieces of history. Beautifully illustrated too.

[Courtney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like the way that the book was organized. It did have some great information about the first museums and how curiosity cabinets made way to The British Museum.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it! It was a little bit scatterbrained, but I know I would have loved this as a kid! It's just so cool looking!

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book about museums and how they cam about for children!