How the sphinx got to the museum

*Starred Review* At some point every visitor to a museum wonders the same thing: How did that get here? With exhaustive, dizzying, yet crystal clear detail, Hartland answers that question in regard to a seven-ton sphinx from ancient Egypt. The opening illustration introduces a museum docent and a gaggle of curious students, but then we backtrack to the reign of Pharaoh Hatshepsut, who requests from a sculptor six granite sphinxes. Priests observe the finished works; years later, Pharaoh Thutmose III destroys them; 3,000 years later, an archaeologist discovers the ruins. This is just the beginning before it's over we'll meet art movers, curators, conservators, riggers, registrars, retouchers, and more, and the increasing lineup is featured on each right-hand page in house-that-Jack-built stair-steps: The SPHINX that was documented by the PHOTOGRAPHER, painted and restored by the ARTIST, officially numbered by the REGISTRAR, and so on. Eye-openers abound (the movers, for example, avoid bumpy roads and tight turns ); while Hartland's cheery, childlike paintings effortlessly shift from desert to city to museum. Closing historical notes are also great. The overall elicited emotion is awe both for the passage of time and for the steps required to bring a simple hunk of stone to the fifteenth person: you.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist

Gr 1-4-Step by mesmerizing step, this picture book reveals how a statue commissioned by Pharaoh Hatshepsut circa 1470 B.C. made its way centuries later to New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The cadenced text and vivacious artwork effortlessly-and entertainingly-delve into ancient Egyptian history, the museum's acquisition process, and careers ranging from archaeologist to conservator. Similarly presented, How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum (Blue Apple, 2011) traces a Diplodocus's journey to the Smithsonian. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The process of how an artifact--in this case, an Egyptian Sphinx--ends up in a museum is explained to a group of visiting children. From "ordered by the pharaoh" to "repaired by the conservators," no step is left unexplored; textured cartoon illustrations help illuminate the events. This thorough discussion of the archaeological and curatorial processes will satisfy young historians. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.