The big book of exhibits by Joan-Maree Hargreaves & Marita Bullock

The Big Book of Exhibits is a fascinating look at 50 exhibitions and collections of unusual and wondrous objects from around the world. From well-known collections including Madame Tussaud’s (France), Terracotta Soldiers (China), Peace Memorial (Hiroshima, Japan) to Toilet Museums in India and South Korea and an Underwear Museum in Belgium, this colourfully illustrated hardback book will have something to interest everyone.

The book begins with a contents page listing ‘some of the world’s great curiosity cabinets’ followed by an introduction. A wide variety of interesting topics are covered throughout this book including art, technology, medicine, science, history and culture. Each page has a title in colour with two or more paragraphs giving information about the place or exhibition being discussed with an interesting highlight and colourful images surrounding it.

For those of us who live in Australia did you know that in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef is an underwater sculpture, the Coral Greenhouse? It is an underwater building filled with reef gardens growing coral and is overseen by statues of children. On a more sobering note, the British Museum has the Gweagal Shield believed to be one of the few relics left from the earliest First Nation peoples’ contact with European colonists. Also, in Australia is the National Arboretum in Canberra which features the largest collection of the critically endangered Wollemi Pine, a tree which dates back to the time of dinosaurs.

This fabulous book is packed full of information which is easily accessible for middle grade readers and older. A highly recommended addition to a school or public library.

Themes: Collections, Museums, Exhibits.

Kathryn Beilby