Unearth The Voyage
In North Kansas City, one museum turns beloved children’s books into places you can actually explore. Spread across three floors, it features immersive exhibits inspired by classic stories, allowing visitors to climb, crawl, and step directly into scenes they once knew only from the page.
The project took eight years to create, and that attention to detail shows throughout the experience. From the famous green room of *Goodnight Moon* to interactive spaces inspired by other literary favorites, every exhibit is designed to bring stories to life in a hands-on way.
What makes the museum special is that it appeals to both children and adults. Whether you are revisiting books you grew up with or introducing them to a new generation, it offers a rare chance to experience classic stories in an entirely different way.
A Former Warehouse Transformed Into a Literary Wonderland
There is something quietly thrilling about arriving at 919 E 14th Ave, North Kansas City, MO 64116, and realizing that what looks like an industrial building from the outside is actually one of the most imaginative spaces in the entire country.
The Rabbit hOle occupies a 150,000-square-foot former warehouse, and the transformation from storage facility to literary universe is the kind of project that takes real vision. Co-founders Deb Pettid and Pete Cowdin, who previously ran a children’s bookstore in Kansas City, spent eight years developing the concept before opening the doors.
The fun begins before you even get inside. Rabbit footprints painted along the sidewalk lead you from the parking lot to the entrance, and kids tend to hop along every single one of them.
That playful detail sets the tone perfectly for everything waiting beyond the front door, and the building earns its name the moment you cross the threshold.
How the Rabbit hOle Entered the World
The origin story of this museum is almost as compelling as the stories it celebrates. Deb Pettid and Pete Cowdin built their love of children’s literature through years of running a Kansas City bookstore, and that hands-on experience gave them a clear sense of what kids and families were actually hungry for.
Their big idea was not simply to display books behind glass or hang illustrations on walls. They wanted to create what they called a radical literary wonderland, a place where visitors become active participants inside narrative landscapes rather than passive observers in front of them.
Eight years of development meant eight years of design decisions, fundraising, partnerships, and problem-solving before the museum finally opened. The result is the first museum of its kind in the United States, a title that carries real weight when you see the scale and quality of what was built.
Great things, it turns out, really do take time.
Three Floors of Storybook Worlds You Can Actually Enter
The sheer scale of this place does not fully register until you are standing inside it. Three full floors contain a labyrinth of exhibits drawn from a century of American children’s literature, and each one has been built with an attention to detail that feels closer to a film set than a typical museum display.
Rooms are dedicated to specific books, and sometimes groups of related stories share a single richly designed space. There are tunnels to crawl through, ladders to climb, fire poles to slide down, and cozy cubbies tucked into corners where a child can sit quietly and just exist inside a story for a few minutes.
Copies of the featured books are placed throughout the exhibits so visitors can read along as they explore, which adds a layer of meaning to every climbing structure and painted wall. The whole setup rewards curiosity, and the more carefully you look around, the more tiny thoughtful details you find hiding in plain sight.
The Goodnight Moon Room That Stops Adults in Their Tracks
Of all the exhibits inside the museum, the Goodnight Moon room seems to produce the most consistent reaction from adults: a sudden, unexpected wave of nostalgia that catches people completely off guard.
The great green room from Margaret Wise Brown’s classic has been recreated with careful fidelity, right down to the soft light and the sense of quiet that the book always carried. Visitors are encouraged to whisper goodnight to the moon, which sounds simple but feels surprisingly moving when you are actually standing there doing it.
For grandparents who once read this book to their own children, the room carries a weight that goes well beyond decoration. The exhibit is tucked toward the end of the museum near the library area, which gives it a natural sense of arrival, as if the whole visit has been building toward this one quiet moment.
It is a small room that manages to feel enormous in the best possible way.
Riding a Bus, Scaling Cliffs, and More Wild Hands-On Moments
The interactive experiences at this museum go far beyond pressing a button or watching a screen. Real physical engagement is built into nearly every exhibit, and the variety is genuinely impressive.
Visitors can ride a bus alongside Nana and CJ from Last Stop on Market Street, scale the cliffs from My Father’s Dragon, stand under an umbrella with Bunny from I Am a Bunny, or hop aboard a tiger merry-go-round inspired by Sam and the Tigers. Each of these experiences is grounded in a real book, which means the physical activity always connects back to a story.
Frances’s family hut from Bread and Jam for Frances is another standout, offering a cozy enclosed space that feels surprisingly faithful to the book’s warm domestic atmosphere. The physical variety keeps children engaged across different energy levels, so a kid who loves climbing can find just as much to do as one who prefers curling up in a quiet corner with a book in hand.
The Three Robbers Experience: A Story You Step Into
General admission gets you access to the main museum floors, but the Three Robbers experience is a separately ticketed add-on that takes the concept of immersive storytelling to a completely different level.
Tomi Ungerer’s picture book about three fearsome robbers who encounter a small orphan girl serves as the foundation for a guided interactive walk-through where visitors actually participate in the story as it unfolds. A guide leads the group through the narrative, and the set design and theatrical elements make the whole thing feel like live theater crossed with an escape room.
The museum provides the book to read at the start, so no prior familiarity is required, though reading it beforehand adds an extra layer of excitement for kids who already know the plot. Groups consistently describe this experience as a highlight of the entire visit, and tickets tend to sell out, so booking in advance is a genuinely smart move rather than just a polite suggestion.
The Print Shop, Story Lab, and Makerspace for Young Creators
The museum is not purely about consuming stories. A significant part of its mission involves turning visitors into creators, and the Print Shop, Story Lab, and Makerspace are where that happens most directly.
Book-making workshops give kids hands-on experience with the physical craft of putting a story together, from writing the words to designing the pages to binding the finished product. Writing labs and literature-based art activities run on a regular schedule, and the programming feels genuinely substantive rather than like an afterthought tacked onto the main attraction.
The Makerspace in particular appeals to children who process ideas through building and making rather than reading and sitting, which broadens the museum’s reach considerably. Story times and author events round out the calendar, giving repeat visitors a reason to come back even after they have explored every tunnel and climbed every structure in the main exhibit halls.
Creative energy runs through this whole building like a current.
The Lucky Rabbit Bookstore Inside the Museum
A museum dedicated to children’s literature would feel incomplete without a proper bookstore, and The Lucky Rabbit Bookstore inside the museum delivers something that feels genuinely special rather than just a gift shop with a clever name.
The selection leans heavily toward the classic titles featured in the exhibits, which makes it easy for families to leave with a copy of a book their child just fell in love with while exploring. Storytimes are held in the bookstore space, adding a programming layer that transforms it from retail into something closer to a community gathering spot.
Prices in the bookstore run on the higher side compared to big-box retailers, which is worth knowing before your visit if budget is a consideration. That said, the curation is thoughtful and the atmosphere is the kind that makes browsing feel like its own small pleasure.
Many families report walking out with three or four books they had never heard of before walking in, which feels like exactly the right outcome.
A Cafe Where the Menu Tells Its Own Story
After hours of climbing, crawling, and exploring, hunger arrives quickly, and the cafe at the end of the museum route is a genuinely welcome sight. The menu is small and deliberately themed around the stories featured in the exhibits, which is a charming detail that fits the overall philosophy of the place.
Grilled cheese, salads, and a handful of book-inspired snack options make up most of the offerings, and the food quality is solid if not elaborate. The space smells wonderful and provides a calm spot to rest before deciding whether to loop back through the exhibits or call it a day.
One practical note worth mentioning: the cafe is entirely cashless, and the main entrance does not accept large bills unless your total reaches a certain threshold. Bringing a card rather than cash avoids any awkward moments at the register.
The cafe also sells adult reading material in the adjacent bookstore area, so the literary theme extends right through to dessert.
Adult Nights and the 21-Plus Experience
The assumption that this museum is only for families with young children gets challenged pretty quickly once you hear about the regular 21-plus nights. The Rabbit hOle hosts adult-only evening events that give grown-ups the run of the place without the noise and energy of a full daytime crowd.
The experience of crawling through tunnels, sitting in storybook rooms, and reading picture books without a child in tow turns out to be its own distinct pleasure. Adults who attended these nights consistently describe a kind of permission to be curious and playful that everyday life does not often provide.
Couples, friend groups, and solo visitors have all found something worthwhile in the adult night format, and the museum’s tactile, hands-on design means there is genuinely plenty to do even without the added context of sharing it with a kid. The evenings tend to sell out, so checking the museum’s schedule at rabbitholekc.org and booking early is the most reliable strategy for securing a spot.
Practical Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Visit
A few logistical details can make the difference between a smooth visit and a frustrating one, and this museum has enough quirks worth knowing about in advance. Tickets purchased online in advance are strongly recommended, especially for weekend visits when lines can form at the door.
Strollers are not permitted inside the museum, so families with very young children should bring a baby carrier instead. The museum can get loud, and visitors with auditory sensitivity may want to bring ear protection.
Bathrooms are harder to access once you are deep inside the exhibit floors, so a quick stop before entering the main areas saves a lot of negotiation later.
The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM, and Sunday from 12 to 5 PM. Monday is closed.
The phone number is 816-492-7915 and the website is rabbitholekc.org. A large parking lot sits directly across the street, and clearly marked rabbit footprints on the sidewalk guide you straight to the entrance from there.
