LONDON.- Through a fantastical environment brimming with treasures from the British Library collection, Story Explorers encourages young visitors to explore the unique role storytelling plays in forming cultures and communities.

Following a special activity trail that is illustratively led by Daisy the library cat, explorers begin their journey in a library filled with incredible objects, including a Victorian record from the Library’s Sound Archive featuring animal sounds, an Indonesian shadow puppet from the early 20th century and an Ancient Egyptian stone tablet engraved with hieroglyphs.

From the library the explorers will travel into space, gazing through a telescope at the full panorama of a night’s sky, before marvelling at one of the first photographs taken of the moon, almost 200 years ago by Welsh astronomer Theresa Dillwyn Llewelyn. Also in orbit is a richly illustrated 16th century celestial chart detailing the stars above the northern hemisphere, an Arabic astrological and astronomical handbook from the Middle Ages and a Chinese oracle bone from the Shang Dynasty recording the awe-inspiring spectacle of a lunar eclipse before stepping into a giant model of the moon itself.

Leaving the darkness of outer space behind, explorers will carve a path through the verdant undergrowth of the jungle, discovering a whole menagerie of creatures. From a colourful 19th century Thai manuscript depicting elephants frolicking to a microscopic image of a dung beetle by contemporary photographer Levon Biss, explorers can marvel at how technology has helped us view the rich colours and textures of the natural world in new ways. Challenges caused by our interaction with animals with also be illustrated through a remarkable drawing of a Dodo, from Extinct Birds, by Baron Rothschild published in 1907.

From the canopy of the jungle, explorers will dive into the depths of the ocean, discovering how different cultures have used stories to capture the mysterious creatures of the sea before creating their own illustrations inspired by marine life. Explorers will begin with a map by 16th century cartographer Abraham Ortelius that depicts an Iceland surrounded with sea monsters before heading next to the Pacific Northwest and an illustrated print of a salmon, created in the style of the Haida people, an indigenous group native to North America, who believe salmon offer a spiritual connection to the sea.

Travelling across the Pacific, to the sounds of whales singing, explorers will see one of the earliest printed Japanese works that captures the anatomy of a whale, by artist Kajitoriya Jiemon, from 1794. Continuing their journey through the Seven Seas, explorers will see luminescent coral from The Great Barrier Reef near Australia, depicted in technicolour by William Saville-Kent in 1893, before arriving on the shores of West Africa, where they’ll read a beautifully illustrated story about the Sea Goddess Mami Wata, by acclaimed author and poet Véronique Tadjo.

Greeting them at the end of Story Explorers is a giant octopus, surrounded by books for reading, that contains a special star chart (2023) by artist Darren Marsh waiting to be discovered.

Nicola Pomery, Family and Community Programmes Manager at the British Library, said: ‘Story Explorers offers families the chance to discover how stories take us on adventures to worlds beyond our own, through amazing items from the British Library’s collection. Created in partnership with a group of families in Camden who helped shape and design the exhibition, visitors will experience the joy of stories, and how they can help us make sense of who we are today. Libraries are incredibly special places, providing young readers with the opportunity to discover stories from all over the world. We hope Story Explorers becomes part of that wonderous journey of discovery.’