London has a new, free, trail to explore this summer. It’s made up of benches shaped like books, based on the much-loved characters from childhood favourites such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Peter Pan and 1984.
The 50 BookBench sculptures are dotted around the city – in Greenwich, City of London, Riverside and Bloomsbury. The project, Books about Town, was launched at the start of this month by the National Literacy Trust and Wild in Art and on October 7 they’ll be auctioned off at the Southbank Centre to raise valuable funds for the National Literacy Trust to tackle illiteracy in deprived communities across the UK.
Axel Scheffler illustrated a bench which celebrates his work with Julia Donaldson and the characters they have created together, including The Gruffalo and characters from The Scarecrows’ Wedding, their new book.
Among the other top artists involved is Ralph Steadman who illustrated Lewis Carroll’s children’s classic Through the Looking Glass in 1973 and has reproduced some of these illustrations on a BookBench.
Children’s authors Lauren Child and Cressida Cowell have each designed benches based on their own series Clarice Bean and How to Train Your Dragon.
On the Riverside Trail:
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
Original illustration by Rae Smith, the Tony and Olivier award-winning stage designer of the National Theatre’s production of War Horse also features on a War Horse BookBench.
On the Riverside Trail:
War Horse by Michael Murpurgo
Well-loved literary heroes such as Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Mary Poppins and Hercule Poirot also appear on benches which visitors can discover until mid-September.
On the Bloomsbury Trail:
Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
On the Bloomsbury Trail:
1984 by George Orwell
On the Riverside Trail:
Clarice Bean by Lauren Child
On the Greenwich Trail:
Frozen in Time by Captain Scott
On the Greenwich Trail:
The Railway Children by E. Nesbitt
On the Riverside Trail:
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
On the Greenwich Trail:
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen. Illustrator: Helen Oxenbury
On the Greenwich Trail:
Elmer the Elephant by David McKee
Download the trail maps
Find and download the maps here: booksabouttown.org.uk.
Spotted around London:
Featured image by Martin Pettitt
