A Sure Winner

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a book that is guaranteed to please even the most timid of young readers. The plot is carefully constructed and even becomes a quasi-mystery. Would your child enjoy reading a book about a brother and sister who decide to run away to New York City to hide in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Would they like to know what the children do for money (They raid the museum fountain at night) or how they get locked into the museum every night without being detected by the guards and staff (They hide on top of the toilets and sleep in a huge canopy bed with curtains)? These were things that intrigued me when I was young, and I remember reading this book until the pages fell out from years of abuse.

This is an uplifting story about the troubles of living within a large family. It really caters to a child's need to feel that there are injustices being done while, at the same time, showing that these are a part of life and that there really is no place like home.