Letter From Kansas City

The "Rabbit Hole" is a new picture-book museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

It's not a series of framed portraits. Instead, it's like entering a video game. Each room is the setting of a famous children's story. For example, the world of Frog and Toad does not feature Frog, and it doesn't feature Toad; instead, it's a meadow of those famous brownish/green plantings, with Toad's mailbox, Toad's bed, and the frightening snake (see "Dragons and Giants"). You yourself play the role of Frog (or you play the role of Toad).

I think this is so smart, because it seems to reproduce my daughter's experience of storytelling. It's clear to me that her idea of fiction is "porous"; she imagines she lives in a castle, when she watches "Encanto." She has not forgiven me for "Frankenweenie"--I think because she now believes a large mutant turtle might walk down the middle of our street.

At the ticket counter, the vendor asked if my spouse and I had flown across the country specifically for this museum. That would be odd: Two middle-aged men spending hundreds of dollars on this particular visit. I said, "No, no. We have other things to do, obviously. OBVIOUSLY...."

As we reached the end of our tour, I inquired about George and Martha. I tried not to do this in an accusatory way, e.g., "Where the fuck is your Martha room?" A wise choice--because Martha actually has a special role in this museum. Her room--which you recognize by way of her iconic wallpaper--doubles as the "laboratory/activity space."

This is a B-plus museum. There needs to be a spotlight on Kevin Henkes, Marcia Brown, Paul Zelinsky, Steven Kellogg, Maurice Sendak, Ian Falconer, Tomi Ungerer, Christian Robinson, Susan Meddaugh, Doug Salati, Rosemary Wells, and Edward Ardizonne.

Give it time.

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