How the Sphinx Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland

Hartland, Jessie. How the Sphinx got to the Museum. Maplewood, NJ: Blue Apple Books, 2010. Print. ISBN: 978-1609050320.

Annotation

Chorus like description of how the Sphinx of Hatshepsut got to New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

My thoughts

The San Francisco De Young had a Hatshepsut exhibit some time ago and learned about the infamous Stepson. When I saw this book, I was immediately interested even without knowing what the book was about. It had mention of Hatshepsut and that was enough for me. It did end up as an interesting story about how the Sphinx of Hatshepsut got to the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. I found it to not be what I expected, but it was an educational cumulative piece that answers the questions that many museum goer’s ask. “How did it get here?” A bonus to the educational function of this book is that it is a great nonfiction read-aloud with its fun chorus and chant like text. Children will enjoy participation with the text and the repetition will help children learn and memorize the who’s and what’s of this piece and museum procurement. Jessie Hartland includes a page of “More History” and a page of “Additional Facts and Figures” to add more information and background to the story of the Sphinx.

Focus on Artwork

Jessie Hartland’s consistent style is childlike and cheerful. The simple pictures allow the readers/listeners to focus on the text. The titles of the people are all uniquely collaged with different font types that add a bit of fun to the repetition. The illustrations look like they have been colored with marker in an expressive manner without focuses on line clarity. The people are illustrated in vague cartoonlike ways and are identifiable by clothing and geographic location.

Literary devices

Use of Repetition: The docent retells the many steps and people who contributed to the sphinx's story each time a new part is introduced in a kind of chorus. “Hatshepsut commissioned, the sculptors sculpted, the priests admired it, and the stepson had it destroyed.” The story continues with it being rediscovered centuries later in a pit by an archaeologist, brought to America, and restored. Each time ending with the start of the sphinx’s story and how it was “ordered by the pharaoh.”

 Use of Rhythm: The chorus of people who helped bring the sphinx is rhythmic like “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly.”

Reading level/ Interest Age

Grade 1 and up.

Reviews and Awards

Starred reviews.

Author website: www.jessiehartland.com/

Media: collage and markers

Genre: Juvenile picture book