The Rabbit hOle, a new immersive museum dedicated to children’s literature, is opening next year in North Kansas City, Missouri.
Located in a 99-year-old renovated warehouse and debuting on 12 March 2024, The Rabbit hOle will showcase 100 years of children’s books.
It is described as a literary wonderland with more than 30 exhibits, as well as a bookstore, print shop, story lab, maker space and resource library.
These spaces will offer various arts and literature-based programming, and special events with authors and illustrators from across the US.
New museum dedicated to children’s books
“Our inspiration has always been to create something beautiful for children,” said co-founder and co-director Deb Pettid. “This is an intergenerational space built to connect people to children’s books and their creators in fun and discoverable environments.”
Pettid and co-founder and co-director Pete Cowdin started planning and building the new museum nearly eight years ago after they closed their children’s bookstore, The Reading Reptile.
“It hasn’t always been easy to convey the scope and depth of The Rabbit hOle, and many people initially thought we’d lost our minds,” Cowdin added.
“But we know this will be one of the world’s most beautiful and original children’s museums in the country where the culture of reading and the wonder of books are celebrated every day.”
Next to the 165,000-square-foot museum building is a state-of-the-art fabrication facility where a team of artists will design and build all of The Rabbit hOle’s exhibits.
“It takes incredible skill and heart to transform a two-dimensional picture book into three dimensions in ways that capture both the story and spirit of the book,” said board member and author Jon Scieszka.
“Never before has anyone taken on a project of this magnitude solely devoted to the reading lives of young people and their families.”
Tickets for The Rabbit hOle go on sale on 22 November.
Images courtesy of The Rabbit hOle
