London Children's Literature Day

Today I spent the day in London looking at several exhibitions featuring children's literature. My first stop was The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. They have a lovely exhibition featuring the work of Judith Kerr. It is a Seven Stories touring exhibtion, which is great as I miss many of their author exhibitions as Newcastle is quite a way to go, although I try to visit now and then as it's one of my favourite museums. The exhibiton features many of Judith's original art work from both The Tiger Who Came To Tea and the Mog books.  There is a large tiger eating all the food as well as a huge cat basket for the children to sit in and read a selection of Judith's books. There is also a section on Judith's early life which was the inspiration for her children's noel When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit. My own favourite highlight were the photos of the real Mog who lived to the grand old age of 127 (cat years) and was as a particualr as the illustrated Mog.

After the exhibition I watched a children's session featuring a re-telling of The Tiger Who Came to Tea complete with an adult sized tiger who ate alot of fruit! It is definitely worth a visit and the rest of the museum is great to get nostalgic about toys from your own childhood.

I then went over to Picadilly to visit the lovely 'Illustration Cupboard'. This small gallery sells and exhibits work by book illustrators and is currently showing original art work by Shirley Hughes in honour of Alfie's 30th birthday. They also have some art work by Jill Murphy, Lauren Child, David McKee and many other children's authors. The downside is that you will want to buy them all! Forthcoming exhibitions include Chris Wormell.  See the works exhibited at: http://www.illustrationcupboard.com/