Discover Children’s Story Centre Review

11/03/2015

1,637 4 minutes read

Discover
Children’s Story Centre
Stratford, London

www.discover.org.uk

Reviewed by Lauren Gee

We are regular visitors to Discover, the Children’s Story Centre based in Stratford, London. Spread across three floors and with an outdoor area too, it has plenty of different areas to explore and inspire stories and imaginative play.

The Big Write Children’s Literature Festival is something that we’ve never been to before, and had an action packed schedule with events throughout the day hosted by various different authors and illustrators – Alexis Deacon, Anthony Browne and Guy Parker-Rees were just three of many. Plus of course there was the new ‘Once there was… The Wonderful World of Oliver Jeffers’ area to explore too.

When we arrived I was expecting it to be really busy but although there were quite a few people there, it wasn’t actually too hectic at all. Pre-booked tickets were all waiting with a very friendly staff member at the entrance and we were in and having fun in a matter of seconds.

Even as a grown up, the storytelling events drew me in. My favourite was Willy the Wimp with the Adriamus Ensemble, who used a string quarter and soprano saxophone to interpret two stories musically. My five year old in particular was intrigued by all the different instruments and my three year old enjoyed jigging around as we listened to the words and the music. I do think that this could have been made more child friendly, as we were expected to sit in rows of chairs for an hour and younger children simply couldn’t cope with sitting still that long – especially since they couldn’t really see the stage very well from further back. I think having some beanbags or cushions at the front that they could have sat on, with adults further back, would have worked better.

Undoubtedly, I Am Henry Finch with Alexis Deacon stole the show for my three year old though. The event began with Alexis Deacon discussing how our brains work; how we can see two circles and a line and interpret them in all different ways dependent on position and angle. He was a captivating presenter, making what could have been a rather dry subject fascinating, informative and funny. He stayed around after the event to sign books, and we ended up going home with a copy of I Am Henry Finch which is currently being cuddled in bed, it is loved so much!

The Wonderful World of Oliver Jeffers gets the vote of the five year old. Based around the book Lost and Found, we began with a reading of the story and a song: ‘once there was, once there was, a little boy… a little boy…’

And then the kids got to explore, just as the little boy did in the book. The whole area is an amazing sensory experience, with a kitchen complete with fridge, play food, cupboards, a crawl through space and a mouse hole; a space rocket; a parade of shops; the little boy’s bedroom with outfits to dress up just like him; and a beach in the Antarctic containing a row boat, deckchair and ice cream stand among other things. All the kids had so much fun going ‘duck fishing’ with poles and hooks whilst sitting in the row boat, which was surrounded by really effective lighting making it look as if it actually was in the water. Every so often, vanilla scented smoke puffed out of an iceberg, conjuring up the smell and taste of ice cream too! It’s really well done and there is so much to explore – we wrote a ticket saying something we had lost and left it in the lost and found, jumped into the sea from the jetty and explored a pet shop complete with friendly (fake) rabbits.

Following that, we headed off to Bounce Boogie Baby Bounce, aimed at 0-3 year olds and using interpretive dance and music to tell the story of ‘Gorilla’ by Anthony Browne. Entering the darkened room, lit by strings of fairy lights, disco balls and coloured bulbs, we were greeted by a double bass strumming out some upbeat sounds. Tiptoeing around it in a circle, we were soon swooping like birds, rolling and wriggling like snakes, and bouncing like kangaroos as the story came alive. It was all really well done and from the crawling babies to the oldest adults, everyone was enjoying themselves.

Following that, the kids got their picture taken in the style of a book cover, and enjoyed wrestling with a giant dinosaur, before finally heading home exhausted and happy. It was quite a long day, and it’s worth bearing in mind that for this kind of event you really need to bring your own food or head out into Stratford to find something as the book signings in the entrance area mean it’s not really possible to use the cafe. The events run pretty much back to back so factoring in some time to explore the giant dragon slide, wooden pirate ship, spaceship and taxi in the garden or the lion tunnels, trip trap bridge and sensory room inside is a good idea. The events also fill up very quickly – it’s best to pre-book as most of them were already full when we arrived on the day.

We have been to Discover many times but this is definitely by far the best visit we have ever had – the varied and interesting events coupled with all the usual areas for exploration and the Oliver Jeffers World downstairs (available until 6th September, much to the delight of the kids who are already clamouring to go back) made it a really lovely day out, enjoyed by the whole family.

At £18 for a family of four (or £11 for annual pass holders) it is brilliant value too.

We give it a very definite 5 out of 5 stars.

Rating: 5/5