Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books in Newcastle, has opened an early years exhibition inspired by touch and feel boards, which uses multi-sensory frames to allow visitors to see, touch and smell original artworks on display.
Time to Get Up (until February 2019) uses classic and new titles to explore young children’s day-to-day activities, including artwork by Janet Ahlberg for the book The Baby’s Catalogue, which is on loan from her daughter Jessica Ahlberg and husband/author Allan Ahlberg, and by John Burningham for Come Away From the Water, Shirley, which was recently purchased by Seven Stories using the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Collecting Cultures Fund.
“Showing framed artwork to young children can be quite challenging, so we have provided physical props, starter questions and made works physically accessible (hung relatively low) to encourage interactivity,” said Alison Fisher, the exhibition manager at Seven Stories and the curator of Time to Get Up.
For example, visitors can read the book A Visit to City Farm by Verna Wilkins and Karin Littlewood, see the original artwork and drafts then press the button to smell the farmyard. The smell of tomatoes and feel of a gingham table cloth accompanies I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, the first Charlie and Lola book by the current Children’s Laureate Lauren Child.
Elsewhere, children can play a xylophone like the one that features in Goat Goes to Playgroup by Nick Sharratt and Julia Donaldson, and turn on the light for Little Bear in Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? by Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth.
“Children’s books aren’t experienced just by looking, it is a physical experience – holding the book, turning the pages, touch and feel books, sitting on the knee of a loved one,” Fisher said. “This is part of the experience, and we have the opportunity to build on this interactivity and provide ways to explore the works.
“When sharing stories at Seven Stories, the experience isn’t just sitting still and being read to – it is about exploring the artwork, making noises, actions and songs, being inspired to make something, do something and share something.
“Our multi-sensory frames are also a way of opening up access to the artworks, providing tools for parents and carers to share artwork with children.”
Gallery activities include a play kitchen, bubbling bath and bed area. The museum has also produced two sensory backpacks, which include an interactive blanket, a book and sensory props such as magnifying glasses, for two of the books on display – Snug by Carol Thompson and Me and My Dad by Robin Shaw.
Fisher said that these allow for further exploration of those titles by people with babies, young children and those with additional needs, and are funded by the Ballinger Charitable Trust.
Time to Get Up (until February 2019) uses classic and new titles to explore young children’s day-to-day activities, including artwork by Janet Ahlberg for the book The Baby’s Catalogue, which is on loan from her daughter Jessica Ahlberg and husband/author Allan Ahlberg, and by John Burningham for Come Away From the Water, Shirley, which was recently purchased by Seven Stories using the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Collecting Cultures Fund.
“Showing framed artwork to young children can be quite challenging, so we have provided physical props, starter questions and made works physically accessible (hung relatively low) to encourage interactivity,” said Alison Fisher, the exhibition manager at Seven Stories and the curator of Time to Get Up.
For example, visitors can read the book A Visit to City Farm by Verna Wilkins and Karin Littlewood, see the original artwork and drafts then press the button to smell the farmyard. The smell of tomatoes and feel of a gingham table cloth accompanies I Will Not Ever Never Eat a Tomato, the first Charlie and Lola book by the current Children’s Laureate Lauren Child.
Elsewhere, children can play a xylophone like the one that features in Goat Goes to Playgroup by Nick Sharratt and Julia Donaldson, and turn on the light for Little Bear in Can’t You Sleep, Little Bear? by Martin Waddell and Barbara Firth.
“Children’s books aren’t experienced just by looking, it is a physical experience – holding the book, turning the pages, touch and feel books, sitting on the knee of a loved one,” Fisher said. “This is part of the experience, and we have the opportunity to build on this interactivity and provide ways to explore the works.
“When sharing stories at Seven Stories, the experience isn’t just sitting still and being read to – it is about exploring the artwork, making noises, actions and songs, being inspired to make something, do something and share something.
“Our multi-sensory frames are also a way of opening up access to the artworks, providing tools for parents and carers to share artwork with children.”
Gallery activities include a play kitchen, bubbling bath and bed area. The museum has also produced two sensory backpacks, which include an interactive blanket, a book and sensory props such as magnifying glasses, for two of the books on display – Snug by Carol Thompson and Me and My Dad by Robin Shaw.
Fisher said that these allow for further exploration of those titles by people with babies, young children and those with additional needs, and are funded by the Ballinger Charitable Trust.
