From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler- Module 4

A. What child has not become angry with their parents and dreamed of running away from home? In this delightful book the adventure begins when Claudia decides to teach her parents a lesson in "Claudia appreciation." She chooses her little brother Jamie to participate with her in the adventure of a lifetime. Together they run away to live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Obviously gifted children, Claudia and Jamie manage to elude the guards and settle in for a long stay at the museum where they become engrossed in trying to solve a mystery for the ages. B. Konigsburg, E.L. (1967). From the mixed up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. New York: Aladdin Publishers. C. The book is fun and smart and a great read for upper elementary children, especially the bright ones who will identify with Claudia's spirit. Her feelings of being unappreciated quickly disappear as she become engrossed in solving the mystery of who carved the statue. She wants it to be Michelangelo so much she can taste it. I could personally identify with Claudia’s love of adventure and a good mystery. I also love the fact that she is an independent, strong female character. I want to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art now and try to locate all of Claudia and Jamie’s hiding places. D. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is Mrs. Konigsburg's second novel, for which she won a Newbery Medal in 1968. It is the story of Claudia Kincaid and her quest for... something. She starts out thinking she is running away because of what she terms "injustice:" the unequal assignment of chores simply because she is the oldest, and the fact that her life seemed to be one big boring routine without end, and the fact that her allowance was hardly enough to do much of anything with. Yes, Claudia was unappreciated, and she intended to call attention to that fact by running away. But by the time her adventure is over, Claudia discovers - with the help of the mysterious "Angel" sculpture in the museum and the eccentricities of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - that she had a much deeper reason for running away. It was a reason she somehow knew, but yet didn't know, and living in the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a week (and her adventures and experiences there) led her step-by-step to the very conclusion she needed to find. Wheedleton, K. (2008, May 30). Book review: From the mixed up files of Mrs. Basil. E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsburg [Review of the book From the mixed up files of Mrs. Basil. E. Frankweiler]. Retrieved from http://bugsandbunnies.blogspot.com/2008/05/book-review-from-mixed-up-files-of-mrs.html. E. I think I would most be interested in using this book as a library book club selection for fourth and fifth graders. I LOVED it when I was a student and we read it in class my fifth grade year. I don’t believe that the book is often used now in our current curriculum, but has so many awesome extension activities and social studies connections that could be taught with the book. Also a neat idea- reading the library and then doing a library sleepover with students, teachers, and parents like the characters in the book do in the Metropolitan museum!