London days out with kids: British Library Fairy Tales

Lose yourself in an immersive world at The Fairy Tales exhibition at the British Library in London this summer. From Cinderella’s glass slipper to Aladdin’s lamp (rub it and see what happens) there’s plenty for children to do, but the real attraction for me were the original texts of some of the most famous fairy tales.

Each room is dedicated to a different theme, beginning with a short animated video in a shadow puppet style talking about the tradition and power of storytelling.

We then moved on room by room, entering the palace, the forest, and considering topics such as transformation, heroes and villains and magic and spells.

My eight year old particularly liked the Princess and the Pea section – children can climb up to her bed and slide down, and sit on a pile of cushions to see if they can feel the wooden pea underneath.

Other interactive parts of the exhibit included distortion mirrors and a magic mirror that asks questions; a dressing up rail; the life size gingerbread house from Hansel and Gretel you can go in (don’t forget to look up to see the witch on the roof); Cinderella’s glass slipper and a building block table where you can make a castle; witches’ potions to smell; Aladdin’s lamp which projects a genie and at the end, a bridge to walk over – see if you can manage not to disturb the troll!

The final part of the exhibition is a reading area with cushions and books to enjoy with your children; the area was full of parents sitting on the floor leaning against the walls reading with their kids which meant it was a bit difficult to see the exhibits on the walls like a glass case containing Lewis Carroll’s original manuscript of Alice in Wonderland.

It was these original texts, some a couple of centuries old, that I was most interested in. My daughter enjoyed looking at the ones I pointed out, explaining to her if they were particularly old, or had beautiful illustrations, including pop up books and ones that told traditional stories in different ways.

It was also interesting to see how the same story was told in different cultures as well as different time periods – there’s a lot you can learn from this exhibition and my daughter came away with a better understanding of why we tell stories and why they are passed down.

The exhibition is in the lower level of the British Library next to the gift shop – which has some beautifully illustrated hardback children’s books as well as a wide range of literature related gifts (including cuddly toys of course).

The Fairy Tale exhibition runs until 23 August 2026 and costs £13.50 for adults, £11.90 for children aged 5-16 and £5.95 for children under 5. We spent about an hour and a half here and both enjoyed our visit; I asked my daughter which part she liked most and she said ‘all of it!’