Lost in the Museum: A seek-and-find adventure in The Met

DK The Met

by Will Mabbitt, Aaron Cushley (Illustrator)

A visually stunning seek-and-find museum adventure for inquisitive kids.

Seven-year-old Stevie is lost in the galleries! She needs to locate a series of artworks to find her way out and back to her family. Can you help her?

Follow Stevie as she explores the most exciting and intriguing galleries and exhibitions inside The Met in this beautifully illustrated seek-and-find adventure!

As Stevie moves through The Met's galleries of Greek and Roman art, Ancient Egypt, and Modern and Contemporary art, learn about the rarest and most beautiful objects found in the museum's prestigious galleries. Who can you find? What will you discover?

© The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Genres: Art, Picture Books, Childrens

72 pages, Hardcover

Published September 7, 2021

Reviews

[Cariadne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've been enjoying seek and find books with my youngest daughter. We got stuck on this, not because it was so clever or hard, but because we were not enchanted with it. We didn't even finish it together. I slogged through the rest on my own to write this review.

We've been to the Met. My older was entranced with finding connections to "From the Mixed Up Files..." We spent hours enjoying our time there.

While the illustrations in this book were done with care, it seemed haphazard. But, that could've been its intention to challenge the seek and find. In general, it would be difficult to do justice to the diversity of items in a children's book.

The storyline, however, lacked charm. The trail of lost clothing was unneeded, an embarrassing device and just didn't work for us. Telling us to find a lost bird per page, count the number of vases or how many irises can you find would be fine on its own.

While reviewing this book, we were also enjoying another seek and find (Penelope Strudel: And the Birthday Treasure Hunt - SPOT THE CLUES and CRACK THE CODES to help Penelope find her birthday surprise!) and it was so much more intelligent. This was a disappointment.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

After seeing many link-ups between DK publishers and the New York Met museum, it was a bit of a disappointment to come to this one. I thought we'd have a Where's Wally kind of thing, but what it is is only half that – the book is far too concerned with the narrative of a young lass trying to reconnect with her family in the museum's Great Hall. This means every spread has far too much text for a visual book, and while there is a set list of recurring cast members, a dozen or so fixed items for us to try and keep track of, and a prompt on every page for us to look for, there isn't that much. The book might have been redeemed if it was happy to admit what it was – an easy way for the young to get used to what museums look like, and what the Met in particular holds – but that wasn't too easy either with quite ungainly CG imagery to convey all the galleries and museum spaces. The whole thing is improved rather by the 'catalogue' telling us what the characters walked past, and inviting us to return to each and every spread, but this did not quite have the personable manner about it that would allow it to gel with a young historian.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

We explore alongside seven-year-old Stevie and take a visit to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York via this colourful and informative book. It's a lovely idea to be able to get an introduction to a such a brilliant museum's collection like this, with many aspects highlighted and more background information given as to different types of artworks and the varied places they are from. The premise is that Stevie is lost in the museum, and needs to find her way back to her family, and as she moves through the museum there are various things for her and the reader to find, both items left by her little brother Alfie, and artefacts in the various double page spreads of different galleries in the museum. It's enjoyable to peruse the pages and explore the exhibits. The book is bright and colourfully illustrated, and in the second-half of the book there are photographic pictures of some of the artefacts too. Having been lucky enough to have visited, I particularly enjoyed seeing the blue hippo again.

[Kayla Zabcia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is trying to be and have too many things at once: a story, a seek-and-find, visually soft, educational, having vague question prompts....pick something and stick with it.

* If you're gonna be educational, use sharper imagery so you can tell what you're looking at.

* Vague question prompts (i.e. which paintings show scenes from nature? or what other statues can you find in the gallery?) are always a no-go for me; give me something tangible and concrete to work with and find. vague questions like that feel very toddler-ish.

The weird thing is that back in the mid-2010s, the Met museum had a fantastic children's map of the museum that was basically a massive seek-and-find, and I really thought this book would be more like that map than whatever this actually was.

[MookNana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a wonderful book with so much to offer! Appropriate for middle grades, the story follows a young girl as she gets separated from her family and makes her way to their designated meeting point in the museum. Along the way she find herself moving through the galleries and collecting belongings her brother seemed to have lost along the way.

This is so richly detailed! Readers can spend hours poring over each illustration, looking at all the objects and stories within. It's a wonderful introduction to the Met, and would make a great souvenir of a day there as well. The gallery descriptions at the end were a fascinating bonus too! I was also glad to see a genuinely diverse mix of people depicted on the page.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

[joyce w. laudon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This title would be a great one for a child and adult to spend time with together, although some children might also enjoy this book on their own. The author and illustrator know their Met, the world famous museum located in Manhattan. The text is informative and the illustrations are intricately detailed.

Children will become familiar with the many treasures of the iconic museum as they visit the galleries with Stevie, the young girl who has gotten lost. There are many search and find activities within these pages, along with some questions to think about.

The end of the book includes additional information about some of the art works that are in the Met.

This title provides an excellent resource for (budding) art lovers.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

[Regina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Met is one of my favorite museums in the world, and this book did not disappoint! It's MUCH better than your standard "where's Waldo" because you get to learn about art history as you wander through the different galleries with Stevie! It's hilarious how much stuff Stevie's brother Alfie "dropped" all around the museum, from his teddy to his scarf! I think kids would really enjoy this book. At the end of the book, there's also a little bit about the different kinds of art that the museum exhibits. Love this book!

(I received an ARC from NetGalley. All reviews are my own.)

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Typical of DK, this book has the vibe of a Highlights (magazine) Hide n' Find crossed with Night at the Museum, except it's day.

At the end of the book are informational pages & illustrations about Art, Arms, & Armor that may be found in the museum. Throughout these pages, the author asks questions of the reader, such as, "What symbols would you like on your coat of arms?" or, "What colors do you notice in the Modern Art room?"

Outstanding!

[MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a puzzle book set in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This is a game where you have to find a missing work of art in a museum.
It reminded me of "Where's Wally?", which I used to read when I was a child.

This book has a playful feel, so for children who want to learn about art and history in depth, it would be better to choose another DK book.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with the top negative reviews. Especially, why are so many of the works blurry? If this is meant to show us something of what it might be like to go to The Met, I'm not interested... even though I'm sure it's simplified by tons I'm not impressed. I do admit that it's cool that the American Bank Branch Facade is in there, though. I'll have to Google for more images.

[Han · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! It contains the journey of a girl lost in the Museum. Discover new art alongside her and it was interesting. Would love to read this to any kids and make them love arts, paintings and Museum in general. The illustrations are beautiful and eye catching too, everything was great with this book. 5 star 🌟 for sure!

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the greatest seek-and-find, but A+ for a nonfiction museum book.

[Vanessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing book! There's so much care to showing off these exhibits and presenting great info for kiddos. Love it!

[Ad Astra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely astounding and full of hidden depths.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well done. Informative yet fun to look at as well.

[hiromi · Rating 4 out of 5]

the art is beautiful,
will def try to play this out with my best friend!

[Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son and I LOVED reading this book. It's one of those jackpot library discoveries.

[Melanie Gaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun search-and-find with a bit of a story. The artworks aren't very detailed, but a lot are shown. Pages in the back give more information on each gallery and individual works of art.

[Katie Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun way to introduce the MET using seek and finds, deeper dives into the artifacts/artwork on exhibition and more. It was fun to follow Stevie as she journeyed through different galleries and I loved the questions included throughout. Some questions would ask you to look for things and notice aspects of the artwork, while others were more abstract - asking you what you'd want to display in a museum, or what building you'd bring into a museum like the bank building. The back matter introduces many of the artifacts in more detail and encourages readers to flip back to the story to notice more. I could see this being a fun resource while visiting the MET with children, or a neat way to prepare a child for visiting a museum. A great way for parents to ponder how they would engage their child when they visit a museum too.