The Michael Morpurgo Exhibition at Seven Stories Newcastle, A Review

I am opening up North East Family Fun to guest posts this summer and our first post is from my lovely friend Safron who wears a number of hats including owning the Gallery in Whitley Bay which sells beautiful local & handmade gifts, creating beautiful jewellery with Safrolistics and selling Usborne books Safron Books. You can also find Safron blogging about her weekend adventures and life over at Northeast Crafty Blogger. Make sure you check it out. 

Safron and her family kindly visited the new Michael Morpurgo Exhibition at Seven Stories in Ouseburn, Newcastle on our behalf this weekend. Over to Safron:- 

This weekend we got to enjoy the Michael Morpurgo exhibition at Seven Stories. Michael  is one of Britain’s best loved story makers, but until this visit, I hadn’t realised just how many books he has written.

Firstly we were greeted at reception by very bubbly and knowledgeable staff, and given a scrapbook to fill in and keep. Each page of the scrapbook, relates to a different Michael Morpurgo book featured in the exhibition.

From writing a story from the point of view of an animal (War Horse),  to hunting for a narwhal then drawing one (Why The Whales Came), every page of the scrapbook gets the whole family involved in each part of the exhibition. You can then head down to The Studio on level one to put it all together using the craft supplies available there.

I think the most famous of his books is War Horse, and that part of the exhibition is very evocative and quite emotional.  You can view a handwritten draft, showing how the story evolved. Props from the stage and film productions, and a World War I painting that inspired the original story.

But that isn’t all there is to see, travel from the Isles Of Scilly, to Nethercott Farm.  Imagine being shipwrecked on a desert island, having a polar bear as a parent, and picture a weak lion cub being circled by hyenas at a watering hole.

Of course the Michael Morpurgo exhibition isn’t the only reason to visit Seven Stories.

All spaces were interactive, we lost count of all the dressing up areas. There are boats and thrones to have your picture taken on. Wooden trains and farms to play with, along with musical instruments, and a lovely comfy corner to enjoy a book or two.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Rhyme Around The World exhibition.  Especially the point where nursery rhymes are sung in different languages, small person was very taken with the lady singing in Farsi from Iran.  And you also get to go on a mouse hunt.... some of them are NOT easy to find!

A visit to the cafe had us well fed and watered, lots of healthy options for all the family, but if you are on a budget, there is a picnic space on level one.

A big highlight of our visit was catching story time in the Attic. The reader was fun, animated, and had every single child joining in. I can’t recommend it enough!

And on the way out, was the bookshop. As you can imagine, it was well stocked with lots for all age ranges, and you can buy every Michael Morpurgo book possible, along with all the other books featured in other exhibitions. Surprisingly it wasn’t small person clamoring for a gift, instead it was me, I saw one of my first loves, Stig of The Dump, with the original illustrations, and just had to have it!

So will we return? You bet, Seven Stories is a magical place, next to the Ouseburn River and Farm, so it’s very easy to spend all day there. A yearly pass is on the cards.

Thanks Safron! The Micheal Morpurgo Exhibition continues at Seven Stories until 2nd July 2017.

Please visit the Seven Stories website for admission and opening details.

If you would like to submit a review to North East Family Fun please email samantharickelton@googlemail.com

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