The McClung Museum and the Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature (CCYAL) have partnered to create reading lists related to the museum’s galleries for children and young adults.
The lists, which are posted on the museum’s website, provide exciting suggested readings about everything from ancient Egypt to the Civil War to archaeology. Selections include The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story by Joseph Bruchac, about the origins of strawberries, grown by the sun to help the first man and woman patch a quarrel; The Egypt Game, a longtime favorite by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, about two girls who use their love of ancient Egypt to create an elaborate fantasy game; and Pink and Say, Patricia Polacco’s story about an interracial friendship between two 15-year-old Union soldiers during the Civil War.
“These reading lists will allow young visitors to further explore the themes of our exhibits,” said Leslie Chang Jantz, an assistant educator at the museum. “We aim to foster an early appreciation of our collection by engaging our young audience in multiple ways, and our partnership with the CCYAL is an exciting complement to our existing family and K–12 programs.”
The museum and CCYAL hope that the collaboration will encourage reading and provide a fun reading activity before, during, or after a visit to the museum through this unique outreach to children, parents, and teachers. Some of the books on the list will be available for sale at the Museum Store.
CCYAL strives to celebrate and promote literature and to encourage reading through outreach to children and their parents, to current and future teachers and librarians, to members of the community, and to scholars and thinkers across disciplines.
The McClung Museum is located at 1327 Circle Park Drive. Museum admission is free, and the museum’s hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. Free two-hour museum parking passes are available from the parking kiosk at the entrance to Circle Park Drive during the week. Free parking is available on the weekends. Free public transportation to the museum is available via the Knoxville Trolley Vol Line.
Additional parking information is available at mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/visit/parking.
For more information about the McClung Museum and its collections and exhibits, visit mcclungmuseum.utk.edu.
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CONTACT:
Leslie Chang-Jantz (865-974-2144, lcjantz@utk.edu)
Catherine Shteynberg (865-974-6921, cshteynb@utk.edu)