Doesn’t everyone like miniatures? Miniature furniture? Dollhouses? I had no idea that The Art Institute of Chicago had a collection called The Thorne Miniature Rooms:

The 68 Thorne Miniature Rooms enable one to glimpse elements of European interiors from the late 13th century to the 1930s and American furnishings from the 17th century to the 1930s. Painstakingly constructed on a scale of one inch to one foot, these fascinating models were conceived by Mrs. James Ward Thorne of Chicago and constructed between 1932 and 1940 by master craftsmen according to her specifications.

Now I want to go see the miniature rooms. Have any of you been there?

The SIxty-Eight Rooms is a fantasy story for middle grade children (a la Narnia or N.D. WIlson’s 100 Cupboards) about entering into different times and worlds through the rooms in the Thorne Collection. I thought it was great, and it reminded me of so many favorites:

Like the Narnia books, The Sixty-Eight Rooms is about children who find a way into another world, or at least another time in our world.

Instead of 100 cupboards, there are sixty-eight miniature rooms and the worlds they open into, waiting to be explored.

As in the magical books by Edward Eager and E. Nesbit, the magic in The Sixty-Eight Rooms has certain rules that children must figure out as they go along. The magic in these books is something that must be discovered and its rules obeyed if the children want to continue in their adventure. Any Which Wall by Laurel Snyder is another book in this genre.

As in Masterpiece by Elise Broach and Chasing Vermeer and the other art museum fiction books by Blue Balliet, the central setting for the adventure in The SIxty-Eight Rooms is an art museum. Kids can learn a lot about art and artists from all of these books while enjoying a cracking good story at the same time.

Like Claudia and Jamie in the classic From the MIxed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Jack and Ruthie in The Sixty-Eight Rooms must figure out how to spend the night in the museum without being caught, and they explore some wonderfully luxurious museum rooms, too.

What I’m saying with all of these comparisons is, if you liked any of the above books, authors, or series, you’ll probably enjoy The Sixty-Eight Rooms, too. And it looks as if, judging from the ending of this first book, there will be more books to come about the magic of the Thorne Rooms. The ending, by the way, was satisfactory, but definitely left room for a sequel.