Time to Wonder: A Kid’s Guide to BC’s Regional Museums, Vol. 1: Thompson-Okanagan- Kootenay-Cariboo-Chilcoton

A guide to small, regional museums—would it be the kind of book you’d only pick up when planning a trip? When looking for location directions? You might think it wouldn’t be the type of book to read at leisure like many nonfiction books. Then Time to Wonder: A Kid’s Guide to BC’s Regional Museums will surprise you. It will draw you in with its unique presentation style and the exhibits the authors have chosen to describe. Its focus on three regions (color-coded pages for easy access) of the British Columbia Interior—Thompson-Okanagan, Kootenay, Cariboo-Chilcotin—will leave you eager to explore the actual museums and well-armed with a basic knowledge of key features for each area.

At first glance, Time to Wonder seems busy, with many small sections of text or photos, and inserts. Confusing? Not once you see how it has been cleverly organized to appeal to youngsters by addressing the logical questions they would ask. For each museum, the first page offers a small map and contact information and small content inserts. “Just the Facts” asks and briefly answers: Where is it? Are photographs allowed? How did it start? Where has it lived? Where do the items come from? How has it changed? The facing page has a photo of one exhibit with the heading: “In a museum you can….learn how/about... see what/why... discover…” and small captions to highlight details. Already your attention has been sharply focused on a single component, and your curiosity aroused for more.

The following two double page spreads for each museum also employ a design that is repeated throughout the book. Again, with respect to the photo shown, “Just the Facts” answers the questions, What is it? What does it look like? Where does it come from? Who used it? The facing page this time includes, Would You Believe? (a related fascinating fact), Connections (how similar items were used elsewhere), and Tell Me More (additional relevant details). “Why is [the item] important in this area?” adds a brief note about the local history as it relates to the item. One thought-provoking section, “My Turn”, gives the reader a chance to make a personal connection to this article while deciding how they would respond to a question or two.

This guide book serves up plenty of history but with a light touch that won’t overwhelm the target readership. You’re given enough background for context and understanding, but the small chunks of information work like a flow chart—one thing leads easily to the next, all feeding off the main illustration. For instance, when viewing the velocipede in the Summerland Museum, you’ll learn how this piece of equipment was used to inspect railway tracks and who used it. You’ll meet the inventor who saw a need for such a tool on the local Kettle Valley Railway. You’ll find out what it has in common with a bicycle and a bit about another museum that uses velocipedes for races. You’re invited to think of an invention that might help your community. You don’t learn everything about this tool, but there’s enough to give you a fair impression of the exhibit and its particular story.

Due to the book’s design, it’s easy to take different approaches to reading it. You might simply choose one insert for each museum, e.g. Where it has lived/How has it changed.. to learn about the changes to these historical buildings over time. Note that each subheading maintains the same style and color to make them easy to spot. I suspect, though, once your interest is piqued with the first entry, you’ll want to study them all in depth, and then visit the website listed for each to learn even more. The photographs of the main items are sharp and clear and supplemented by other photos from the archives of the museum.

Of additional interest to kids will be several pages of interviews with a curator of collections, a high school age volunteer and a museum assistant. Responses to questions posed to these people will help kids understand what is involved with running a museum and what skills are needed for the work. The book also has an extensive Glossary, Selected Resources list and Index. It is obvious that a great deal of research went into this guide and has contributed to its quality.

A couple of small things I tripped over: on page 34, the First Nations heritage museum in West Kelowna has an Indigenous name [Sncəwips] which many readers may be unable to read correctly. A pronunciation key would have been useful here. Elsewhere, the authors did include appropriate Indigenous words for the names of belongings described. Also, there is a spelling error in the map on page 10: Geneden should be Gleneden.

Having reviewed Time to Wonder (it’s not just for kids!), I now look forward to stopping at a few of these small museums on my next trip in the BC Interior to see what other stories they have to share.