This was fun and adorable. But also sensical especially on growth factor and maturity of children.

This was written in 1967ish, and I can see why it holds its own through the years. There are some humorous moments and an interesting plot and good characters. The writing is great. I was just kind of bored through much of it. I’m not 12, and I’m not from the 60s.

I was never quite sure why Claudia insisted on running away if it wasn’t going to be permanent. And how on earth did she decide hang out in a museum the whole time? I got annoyed when she corrected her brother’s grammar, mostly because she was wrong most of the time. And I didn’t find the mystery of the statue very interesting.

Book Blog

In The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, A.J. tells his daughter: “The things we respond to at twenty are not necessarily the same things we will respond to at forty and vice versa. This is true in books and also in life.”

I think maybe that was my problem with From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Had I read it as a kid - perhaps in 4th or 5th grade - I think it's very likely that my 10-year-old imagination would have run wild with glee at the thought of running away from home to live in a museum. Perhaps Claudia and Jamie Kincaid would have been my literary heroes.

But at the far more pragmatic age of 41, all I could think as I read this book was how freaking sick with worry!!! their parents must have been after two of their kids disappeared without a trace for an entire week. I know… I'm no fun.

Also… well, I just plain didn't like Claudia. She was an entitled, manipulative, thoroughly self-absorbed little brat. I kept hoping some personal growth on her part might salvage the story in the end, but it was not meant to be. In fact, when confronted with the fact that her family was frantic over her and her brother's disappearance, Claudia's only response was, "But I wrote them a letter!" That was more or less when I gave up and accepted that this would, in all likelihood, be a one-star read. Even the eventual introduction of the titular Basil E. Frankweiler, with her sage insights and poignant perspectives on life and people that appealed to my pragmatically boring self, couldn't sway me, despite being a welcome change from all of Claudia's screeching and a narrative that had otherwise grown rather monotonous. Besides, it all went over Claudia's head anyway. (Jamie, for his part, was more tolerable, if irritatingly precocious for an 8-year-old.)

I read this book aloud to my daughter (age 7) and it seemed as lost on her as it was on me, albeit for different reasons. While she followed the basic plot, some of the subject matter pertaining to art history was a little over her head. Not really an issue since it provided for good discussion; however, she also had trouble following the narrative at times. But honestly? So did I… leading me to believe that perhaps it was an issue of writing style and not reading comprehension skills. She gave it two stars.

Then again, give it a few more years and she may respond differently.

This has been sitting on my shelf for a couple years.
I like the idea of running away to a museum and hiding out and having an adventure and a mystery to solve.
This book was just kind of boring to me. I thought Jamie was cute but I didn’t like Claudia. I never liked “know it all” little girls when I was young. As an adult they are just as annoying ha ha
I like having an experience change you and help you grow but I couldn’t tell if there was one for these kids.

I never read From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs Basil E. Frankweiler as a child, but wish I had! Konigsburg takes us on an exciting and mysterious romp to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, alongside two runaway children, Claudia and Jamie Kincaid. They are amusing and intelligent characters, who have been rendered realistic beings, and whom the reader finds themselves rooting for throughout. From The Mixed-Up Files... is a simple yet clever tale, with several twists and turns to keep readers young and old(er) amused.

Un libro infantil, divertido, recreativo y llevadero.

Para ser un libro infantil creo que debería ser un poco más ágil y entretenido, pero bueno, es lo que hay.

I never read this book as a child, I had no idea it even existed. At the urging of several GR friends I picked it up last night and spent a very enjoyable few hours. What could be more enchanting than the story of two kids who run away from home and hide out in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City? A brother and sister with bulging pockets of pennies and nickels, sleep in a 400 year old curtained bed by night, bathe in the museum’s fountain and eat in the cafeteria by day. When the museum acquires an enchanting sculpture of an angel with uncertain origin, the kids decide to get to the bottom of the mystery. Delightful!

Lo de la medalla Newbery es o libros con historias muy chulas o libros realmente mediocres como éste que te hacen preguntarte por qué la ganaron.

Well I've never read an actually good book winning the Newbery Medal and this was no exception. They might as well call it the Mediocre Medal of Children's Literature, (not considering the disturbingly large number of books which don't even live up to that.)

Cleanliness:

Children's Bad Words
Mild Obscenities & Substitutions - 15 Incidents: stupid, boloney, blasted
Name Calling - 5 Incidents: brat, nutty, blabbermouth, stupid
Religious Profanity - 13 Incidents: gosh, for goodness' sake, heaven knows, thank goodness,

Religious & Supernatural - None
Violence - None

Romance Related - 3 Incidents: "Claudia always dreaded that brief moment when her pajamas were shed and her underwear was not yet on.” “Her art teacher had said that the Renaissance was a period of glorification of the human form: as best she should figure out, that meant bare bodies. Many painters of the Italian Renaissance had painted huge billowy, bosomy naked ladies. She was amazed at Jamie; she thought he was too young for that. He was. She never considered the possibility that he wanted her to be bored.” References a “great bare lady in the painting upstairs.”

Illustrations - 2 Incidents: Children are shown naked in a fountain with full anatomical shots being shown in semi-realistic pencil drawings. Portrait of a naked woman in semi-realistic pencil drawings.

Attitudes/Disobedience - 9 Incidents: A girl says about her little brother: “Steve is one of the things in my life that I’m running away from.” A boy confesses that he gambles. He and his friend play the card game “war” for money. A girl calls her little brother “Kevin Brat.” A boy confesses that he cheats his friend at cards in order to make money. A girl steals a man’s newspaper. A girl lies to cover up that she didn’t know something. A girl and boy talk about why they aren’t too homesick. The girl says “it’s really their [parents] fault if we’re not homesick.” A boy lies about why he is not in school. A girl says part of the reason for running away was because she was mad at her parents.

Conversation Topics - 8 Incidents
The kids discuss the difference between angels and cupids, one being a Christian and one being pagan. The kids find a candy bar. The sister tells the boy not to eat it because it could be filled with marijuana and he could become a dope addict. A boy thinks telepathy will work so tries to send a message to his sister. “Jamie reminded Claudia to say she was sorry for stealing the newspaper [in her prayers]. That made it officially Sunday.” Mentions a worker drinking beer. A boy thinks his sister might be committing suicide. (She is not; just taking a bath).” A lady won a statue because she was a good poker player. A boy wants to visit an old lady again and says they can just tell their parents “that we’re going bowling or something.”

Parent Takeaway
The premise of the story is a girl deciding to run away from home. At first, she runs away because she's mad at her parents (for giving her so many chores) and for being tired of her siblings (though she takes one of her brothers along with her). It's not supposed to be taken too seriously. She ends up finding out that what she really wanted was an adventure and a chance to come back feeling different, like a "hero" somehow. The sister and brother get along well as they work together, planning their escape to a museum (for they still need to keep up their learning). They make sure to wear clean underwear each day, take a bath and wash their clothes too, as all proper running-away schemes should be carried out. The story ends with them solving a mystery regarding a statue at the museum.

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One of the highlights of parenting is rereading my childhood favorites with my crew. This story enthralled me then and enchanted them now.

And it's no secret that this story, in part, inspired The Sky at Our Feet. Bold children and New York City make for an irresistible combination.

Such a fun little read. I have heard people talking about this story and I finally got around to reading it. I love that it takes place in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. It's fun to see how cheap things were in the 60s. Great book.