‘Nurture through Nature with Children’s Books’
SELCIE is delighted to be involved in partnership with the Museum of Childhood in the making of a new exhibition opening in Spring 2025 at Museum of Edinburgh. Investigating the links between wellbeing and nature introduced to us through books from an early age, it will look at how stories and the exploration of nature – flowers, trees, animals, birds, insects – come together in our childhood experiences of imaginary and real worlds.
Children’s books from the last 150 years will be on display with beautiful illustrations, poetry and information about how to find green spaces throughout Edinburgh. The positive influences of nature on mental health and wellbeing will be examined alongside a programme of public events for children and families, including storytelling and creative workshops.
For more information on the exhibition, which runs from Sat 26 Apr to Sun 7 Sep 2025, please see here at Museums and Galleries Edinburgh.
For events and booking information, please see here.
***
Previous Exhibitions
‘Growing Up with Books’ was our first exhibition at the Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh, based on the archival and research work of the SELCIE team. Running from 1 June to 9 December 2018, it showcased the hidden heritage of children’s literature contained within the Museum of Childhood’s collection.
A series of exciting events, for young and older alike, also ran alongside our exhibition.
You can find reflections on both the exhibition, and the events, on our blog.
Below you can find a month-by-month list of some of the workshops and storytelling sessions which took place in 2018, all inspired by the world of children’s books. Unless indicated otherwise, all events were free and drop-in, and took place at the Museum of Childhood.
June
Saturday 9th, 10.30-12.30; 1.30-3.30. Rubber-Stamped Mini-Books. With artist Katie Forrester make a small hand-made book to take home.
Sunday 10th, 1-3; 3.30-4.30. Enchanting Tales. Join storyteller Alice Fernbank to hear some enchanting stories inspired by the traditional tales we read and loved as children.
Saturday 23rd, 10.30-12.30; 1.30-3.30. Magical Story Books. Join artist Lauren McLaughlin to create a concertina book. Feel free to bring your favourite books for inspiration!
July
Friday 6th, 1-4. Your Favourite Book Character. Broons and Oor Wullie artist Stephen White draws a special portrait of a favourite character!
Saturday 7th, 10.30-12.30; 1.30-3.30. Bookmark Beasts. Artist Katie Forrester will help you to create beautiful bookmarks from cardboard and wool to create fantastical beasts and creatures!
August
Sunday 12th, 1pm and 3pm. The Bureau of Untold Stories. Free event but booking essential. In association with Edinburgh Fringe Festival. ‘In sock drawers, notebooks, and the minds of people just like you, are tales of significant importance, waiting for discovery. The inspired inspectors who uncover these fables are members of an elite unit known as the Bureau of Untold Stories, and these are the stories you’ve shared. Unravel the hidden stories of the audience with our inspectors as they utilise live sound effects, improvisation and unconventional storytelling skills…’
Saturday 18th, 10.30-3.30. Tunnel Books: Illusions and Stories. Adult Creative Workshop. Create your very own tunnel book and capture the stories that sparked your childhood imagination in a 3d optical illusion art piece. This workshop aims to explore your experiences and memories of childhood stories and the lasting and unique way in which these experiences can stay with us into adulthood. With artist Rachael Forbes. £30; Booking essential
Sunday 19th, 1-3pm; 3.30-4.30. Puppets and Prose. Join storyteller Julie Bannatyne to hear some enchanting children’s prose brought to life with puppetry and props.
September
Saturday 1st, 10.30-3.30pm. Stitching Stories. Adult Creative Workshop. Explore the potential of applique and hand embroidery to create your very own stitched narrative inspired by your childhood memories of characters, places and worlds discovered in stories. Imbue your stitching with personal meanings and create a nostalgic collage of fabrics, paper, embroidery and found objects to create your unique narrative. With artist Rachael Forbes. £30; Booking essential.
Monday 24th, 10.30am. The Hidden Lives of Early Scottish Children’s Books. Lauriston Castle. Speakers from SELCIE introduce the rich forgotten heritage of the chapbooks, fairy tales, fables, and more in the Museum of Childhood archive, as well as stories about the little readers who once held them in their hands.
November
We are excited to announce that we will be hosting a one-day conference on Friday, November 23rd to complement the Growing Up With Books exhibition. The conference, Opening Up the Archives: Collections, Collaborations, and Forgotten Histories in Children’s Literature, will explore children’s books in museum and library archives; children’s oral and literary cultures (including Gaelic in Scotland and Ireland); and the role of children as readers and producers of literature. It brings together experts from Scotland, Ireland, and England to discuss and promote collaborative work between literary and cultural historians, museum curators, and archivists.
You can find out more and register here!
Our first event was‘Scottish Children’s Literature: Forgotten Histories, New Perspectives, and J.M. Barrie’. On 26th and 27th June 2015, Sarah and Val organised the first extended symposium dedicated to the subject of Scottish children’s literature from the eighteenth century onwards. Hosted by The Solway Centre for Environment & Culture, the University of Edinburgh, and the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust, two days of discussion and performance began to stitch together this forgotten history and its contemporary vitality, enriched by insights from contemporary children’s writers, Liz Niven and Tom Pow.
A special event was held at The Minerva Hall, Dumfries Academy, organised by the Peter Pan Moat Brae Trust, currently developing Scotland’s Centre for Children’s Literature and Storytelling, based in the Dumfries house and garden which inspired J.M. Barrie’s iconic Peter Pan. The Scottish Youth Theatre performed the first, and wonderful, reading of Barrie’s earliest play, Bandelero the Bandit, since he premiered the work whilst still a pupil at the school. It was introduced by the late Professor R.D.S. Jack of Edinburgh University who produced the first published edition of Barrie’s early plays.
Conference programme: abstracts-notes-on-contributors.
