It's been a long time since I last read From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, but every time I go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I still look for the bed siblings Claudia and Jamie Kincaid slept in during their brief, fictional residence at the world's best museum. I never considered running away to the Met like Claudia and Jamie did—my choice of refuge would have been the Children's Museum of Manhattan, so I could commandeer the news anchor desk without having to bite one of the other kids—but E.L. Konigsburg's book made a stuffy art museum magical. On Saturday, July 15, the Met will host a day in celebration of From the Mixed-up Files' 50th birthday, complete with child-friendly tours, themed cookies (!!!!!) and a Selfie Station which, let's be real, Claudia would have hated.
Festivities will take place at the museum from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with hour-long tours for children ages 7 to 11 running at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Visitors will get to see the Greek sarcophagus where Claudia stored her violin case and that musty canopied bed I've never been able to find, and are encouraged to embark on a scavenger hunt that'll take them to Claudia's beloved cat statuette, the Arms and Armor gallery, and Marie Antoinette's armchair, which I didn't know even lived at the museum until RIGHT NOW. Sadly, the Fountain of Muses from which the Kincaids gathered their income moved to South Carolina years ago, but the coins in the Temple of Dendur's moat should suffice as lunch money.
Visitors can also score copies of the book and specially-made cookies, and they're invited to take selfies recreating the original cover on the museum steps, weather-permitting. The event is free with (suggested!) Museum admission, and children under 12 don't even have to pretend to hand the museum a dollar.
Meanwhile, if you are a child or adult who would like to run away to the Met, Hyperallergic has a handy guide for you.
