Fall 2024

A Funny Thing Happened at the Museum...

From the Set Funny Thing Happened

There's more to this museum than meets the eye! Now in reinforced library binding, this wonderfully wacky world celebrates international author-illustrator team Davide Cali and Benjamin Chaud, the duo behind Junior Library Guild selections I Didn't Do My Homework Because . . . , The Truth About My Unbelievable Summer . . . , and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to School . . . .
Notoriously (and delightfully) unreliable narrator Henry is late to a museum where his class is spending the day. But he has a plan: He'll just catch up in one of the exhibits. But that's not possible in these halls! With volcanoes erupting, dinosaurs charging, and secret stairwells lurking, reuniting with his classmates becomes a quest of outrageous proportions. Young readers will revel in this entertaining book's over-the-top antics.

Format List Price Your Price Qty
$37.10 $25.95
Interest Level Grade 1 - Grade 3
Reading Level Grade 2
Dewey Number E
Lexile
ATOS Reading Level
Guided Reading Level
Language English
Publisher Black Rabbit Books
Format Reinforced book
ISBN 9781623109929
Copyright 2025
Number of Pages 44
Dimensions 6 x 8
Graphics Full-color illustrations

Booklist Review of A Funny Thing Happened at the Museum...

Young Henry, the protagonist from The Truth about My Unbelievable Summer (2016) and several earlier adventures, arrives late for his class field trip to the museum and decides to catch up by moving quickly through the exhibits. Prompted by his teacher, Henry later recounts being charged by a triceratops, making balloon sculptures for some Neanderthals, encountering a volcanic eruption, breaking apart a dinosaur skeleton, and becoming lost in an Escher-like stairwell leading to a basement full of “unfinished” art. As in the earlier titles, the story’s humor derives from the contrast between the deadpan text and the chaotic scenes depicted. “I discovered a way to reach them [his class] really quickly,” Henry relates, as illustrations show him climbing into a catapult, flying through several exhibits, and landing next to the waiting bus. Chaud’s busy, slightly retro-style illustrations depict Henry and a dog pal progressing calmly from one calamitous situation to the next. Similar in tone to Denys Cazet’s Are There Any Questions? (1992), this will be popular with tall-tale fans.— Kay Weisman

SLJ Review of A Funny Thing Happened at the Museum...

The protagonist from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to School is back in a new adventure, this time at a museum. Young Henry works his way through the museum, trying to rejoin his classmates, creating havoc all along the way. While running from a herd of buffalo, he knocks down a dinosaur and puts it back together in his own stylish way. Henry also washes a whale, trims a woolly mammoth’s hair, makes balloon animals for a Neanderthal family, and finishes a few paintings. He doesn’t consider himself an artist, but nevertheless a line of people gather to see his work. Chaud’s cartoon illustrations have a surreal, sometimes chaotic feel to them, and readers will enjoy following Henry’s dog through these scenes as well.VERDICT Best for one-on-one sharing and for fans of the series.

Author: Davide Cali

Illustrator: Benjamin Chaud