Lauren Child Exhibition

Manchester Art Gallery launches a major new exhibition this summer dedicated to the work of awardwinning children’s author and illustrator Lauren Child. Her best-selling books have been captivating children and their parents for almost 10 years. They include the hugely successful Charlie and Lola, Clarice Bean, That Pesky Rat and Hubert Horatio Bartle Bobton-Trent.

Green Drops and Moonsquirters is the first ever exhibition to bring Lauren Child’s popular books to life. Displays are based on illustrations, characters and themes from all her books and are fully interactive. They combine original illustrations with fun and engaging hands-on activities for under 7s and their families.

Visitors are invited to literally step into the world of Child’s books. Playhouses based around her most popular characters encourage families to explore and play. They can:

• Sit at Charlie and Lola’s kitchen table and make meals with food from their fridge.

• Dress-up in Charlie and Lola’s favourite outfits including Lola’s fabulous alligator costume from I Am TOO Absolutely Small For School.

• Draw imaginary friends on a magna-doodle (inspired by Lola’s friend Soren Lorensen).

• Visit Grubby Alley where That Pesky Rat lives.

• Perform puppet shows to an audience of family and friends (in a theatre created from the fourposter bed in The Princess and The Pea).

The exhibition is free and runs at the Manchester Art Gallery between 21 June until 21 September 2008 before touring to museums and galleries around the UK;

Museums Sheffield Weston Park:

4 October 2008 – 15 February 2009

Nottingham Castle Museum & Art Gallery:

28 February 2009 – 26 April 2009

Aberdeen Art Gallery:

13 June 2009 – 22 August 2009

Ferens Art Gallery, Hull:

5 September 2009 – 8 November 2009

National Museum Cardiff:

21 November 2009 – 24 January 2010

Seven Stories, The Centre for Children’s Books, Newcastle: 

4 February 2010 – 19 September 2010

For further details, click here