[photo credit: Norton Simon Museum]
“Stories in the Afternoon: Gaston,” scheduled for Sunday, June 7, at 3 p.m., pairs a reading of Kelly DiPucchio and Christian Robinson’s book with a hands-on art activity connected to the museum’s collection. The program is designed for families with children ages 4 to 8, is free with museum admission, and requires no reservations.
“Gaston” tells the story of a stocky bulldog pup raised in a family of delicate poodles named Fi-Fi, Foo-Foo, and Ooh-La-La. He sips when they sip. He yips when they yip. He works hard to fit in. But a chance meeting with a bulldog family at the park — and a poodle puppy named Antoinette who looks just as out of place — upends everything. The two swap families. The new arrangements look right but don’t feel right, and both puppies follow their hearts back to where they started.
The book, published in 2014 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, has earned a sustained following. Kirkus Reviews gave it a starred review, calling it an absolute delight, and New York Magazine named it a Best Book to Gift Little Kids in 2024. Published reviewers have praised the book for exploring themes of acceptance, identity, and belonging. DiPucchio is a New York Times bestselling author; Robinson, a California native who studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts and worked at both Sesame Workshop and Pixar Animation Studios, received a Caldecott Honor for his illustrations in Matt de la Peña’s “Last Stop on Market Street,” a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
The Stories in the Afternoon series, according to the museum, uses children’s books to explore the world and subject matter of great paintings. After the reading, children create artwork of their own. Families meet in the Entrance Gallery. The program is part of a broader slate of family and youth offerings at the museum, which also welcomes more than 1,100 Pasadena Unified School District fifth-graders each year through its “My Masterpieces: Discovering Art in My Community” partnership, according to the museum’s website.
The Norton Simon Museum, founded in 1975, houses more than 12,000 objects spanning European art from the Renaissance to the 20th century and 2,000 years of South and Southeast Asian art. The museum is also currently showing “Dear Little Friend: Impressions of Galka Scheyer,” an exhibition on view through July 20 that explores the German-born art dealer’s relationships with the artists she represented. Families visiting for the storytelling program can explore the galleries before or after the 3 p.m. session; the museum is open Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
Admission is $20 for adults and $15 for visitors 62 and older. Members, students with ID, and everyone 18 and under enter free. Advance tickets are recommended but not required. The museum is wheelchair accessible. Parking is free but limited. Pasadena Transit bus lines 10 and 33 stop in front of the museum, and the Metro A Line’s Memorial Park Station is nearby. The museum is at 411 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91105. For information, call (626) 449-6840 or visit nortonsimon.org.
Gaston learned that home isn’t where you match. It’s where you’re loved. On June 7, children at one of Pasadena’s great museums will hear that lesson for the first time.
