After midnight in a big-city museum, "Doors are locked. / Guards keep watch. / All is still, until . . . / a small figure creeps out of the shadows . . . / Who is this mouse of mystery?" It's Dakota Crumb, a bold mouse on a treasure hunt. Stealthy in her movements, she snags a portrait painting (postage stamp), a long-lost statue (plastic superhero action figure), and the mysterious, grape-flavored Purple Jewel of Egypt. She makes her getaway to the adjacent Mousehole Museum, where bugs, birds, snails, and rodents crowd in to enjoy the exhibits, including the new acquisitions, which children will spot in the pictures. Two appended pages show images of small treasures on Dakota's list and challenge viewers to hunt for them within the main illustrations. The writing draws listeners into the story with hints of daring escapades, and its tone sets the stage for adventure. The inviting artwork, drawn with pen and ink and digitally colored, enhances that atmosphere with shadowy scenes of the exhibit halls at night. Fun for reading aloud, ideally before visiting a museum.

Meet Dakota Crumb, treasure hunter extraordinaire.Never mind that she is a mouse; her small size is no hindrance to her bravery. Dakota lives deep under a great city's art museum. At night she scurries about the museum with a mouse-sized sack, searching for treasures that she can carry away. She is quick witted and keen eyed and able to escape by a whisker from any danger. Though she snags a painting and a statue that are small enough to toss into her sack, her goal this evening is to find the Purple Jewel of Egypt with the help of a treasure map. Of course she finds that treasure, and it tastes good too. The clock keeps ticking toward morning as the tale's pace slows and quickens with Dakota's need to creep past dangers, swoop a treasure into her sack, pause to read her map, or even freeze in fear. Readers will need sharp eyes to identify the actual treasures, but the effort is rewarded by admission through a tiny door under the big museum to the Mousehole Museum-curated by the amazing, clever Miss Crumb. Murphy's gray- and purple-hued nighttime cartoons perfectly track the action from Dakota's close-to-the-ground perspective, depicting her as an intelligent, confident, and independent female. A closing activity invites readers to embark on their own treasure hunts to find other items to be seen in the museum on a second read.A delightful, entertaining romp with lots of surprises. (Picture book. 6-9)

In this Night at the Museum-leaning picture book, an intrepid gray mouse, dressed in a red turtleneck sweater and utility belt, uses her nocturnal prowl to scour a big-city museum for treasures-which readers will recognize as things left behind by human visitors. Dakota Crumb creeps and rappels, scooping up a left-behind action figure in a statue gallery, and bravely maneuvering past a feline statue in the antiquities hall until reaching her objective: -the Purple Jewel of Egypt,- a gumdrop that someone has stuck to a stone temple. Michalak (Frank and Bean) drums up the lengthy expedition-s drama, and Murphy-s (Together We Grow) digitally colored pen and ink drawings are both adventure-story cinematic and wonderfully evocative; bathed in pale purples and blues, they capture the after-hours stillness and spooky chill of marbled interiors. The payoff reveals that Miss Crumb-s treasures are holdings for her own magnificent Mousehole Museum, which is open to city critters. And why shouldn-t pigeons and insects be culture vultures, too? Final pages invite readers to find more treasures that Miss Crumb missed. Ages 3-7. Author-s agent: Victoria Wells Arms, Wells Arms Literary/HG Literary. (July)