From Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, Explorers is a new picture book about an extraordinary trip to a museum.
When a family goes to a local museum, a boy notices a homeless man sitting outside, making brightly colored origami birds. He convinces his dad to buy a bird the man makes just for him.
Once inside the museum, his little sister takes the bird and launches it into the air. Is it lost? Soon another boy helps him look, and the paper bird brings two families―and two new friends―together.
With the style he used in Wolf in the Snow, Matthew Cordell shows how an ordinary family outing can be both extraordinary and magical.--from the publisher
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It's a special day. A family is setting out to have an adventure together. Mom, Dad, brother and little sister stop by a hot dog stand for some lunch and the young boy notices a homeless man sitting on the ground nearby next to a booth with a sign that says MAGIC. The homeless man is making paper art and the boy talks his Dad into buying him a paper bird. Delight ensues. The bird, of course, can fly.
The family continues on and arrives at a museum with a huge banner proclaiming an exhibit on EXPLORERS. In they go and dinosaur skeletons, Ancient Greece, the mummies of Egypt and a whole lot of bird tossing and catching await their own family exploration. All is well until... the bird goes missing.
This is where the real magic takes place. This is where two families who look different to each other meet. What happens in that moment? What keeps us apart? What connects us? Turns out sometimes you need to explore your insides and your outsides to understand the really important stuff.
As always with Matthew Cordell, we are in good hands here. His artwork sings with playfulness and Saturday afternoon fun and his very excellent mind/heart are at work as he leads us along to the real treasures here. It's a fun one! Great read aloud. A delight.
40 pages 978-1250174963 Ages 3-8
Keywords: acceptance, accepting others, magic, diversity, diverse books, family, museum, explorers, exploration, new experiences, values, Character Building Curriculum, Read aloud to 3 year olds, 4 year olds, 5 year olds, 6 year olds, 7 year olds
