It’s time to hop into your winged slippers and take a trip round a magical London, one where childhood dreams never end. These London tales tell of a honey-loving bear from Harrods, an eccentric detective, boys with magic powers, giants and a Gothic vampire. So, without further ado, let’s take a swashbuckling, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious tour of literary London for kids, with Dracula, Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, Mary Poppins, the BFG and friends. It’s for kids big and small.
“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.” J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
Start with a festival: the Barnes Children’s Literature Festival
Let’s start with the annual Barnes Children’s Literature Festival, a jam-packed weekend of storytelling, workshops and activities. Some of the biggest names in children’s books lend their superpowers, from authors and illustrators of dragons and giants to creators of the Gruffalo. Check the festival website for this year’s line-up.
Literary London for kids: Peter Pan and pirates
This tale could be out of 101 Dalmatians but it’s a Peter Pan one: J.M. Barrie met the Llewelyn Davies family in Kensington Gardens whilst he was walking his St Bernard dog, Porthos. They became lifelong friends, Barrie eventually adopting all their children when their parents passed away. George Llewelyn Davies, later killed in action in 1915, was one of the children who inspired Barrie to create the boy who would never grow up. Check out 31 Kensington Park Gardens, said to be the house where the Darlings lived, but remember to take some fairy dust with you.
Staying with our winged boy, keep an eye on what’s showing at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, where Peter Pan has flown in before. It’s an awfully big adventure!
And if you want to see what a pirate’s life was like, head over to the Golden Hinde on Bankside, a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship. It’s a perfect pirate stop on a literary London for kids day. Costumed guides re-enact sixteenth century seafaring life for children, so check the website for tours and workshops.
Literary London for kids: Dracula in the West End
If you happen to be going to see The Lion King, know that the Lyceum Theatre was home to Dracula’s creator, Bram Stoker. He was business manager here as well as assistant to the theatre’s owner, acting legend Henry Irving. Stoker would go on to become friends with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes.
138 Piccadilly was for years the home of Eon, the production company behind the James Bond films, but it once had a much darker and bloodier owner: Dracula. He first lived at Carfax in Purfleet, but moved to Piccadilly when his enemies started hunting him. This “vile-smelling” place is the house into which Van Helsing and Jonathan Harker break one night, intent on destroying the vampire’s lair. Although it is never named as 138, vampire experts (including the co-founder of the Dracula Society) have identified the house as such. You might want to wear some garlic bulbs for this one.
Literary London for kids: Mary Poppins
In 1934, Mary Poppins came in with the east wind, floating into London’s 17 Cherry Tree Lane with a carpet bag and parrot-headed brolly. Her author, Pamela Lyndon Travers, lived at 50 Smith Street in Chelsea, the inspiration for 17 Cherry Tree Lane in her series of novels. Fun fact: Mary Shepard, the illustrator of the Mary Poppins books, was the daughter of Ernest Shepard, illustrator of Winnie-the-Pooh.
This striking and rather unusual house in Hampstead, Admiral’s House, was built in about 1700 and was once occupied by Lieutenant Fountain North. He would fire cannons from the rooftop in celebration of King George III’s birthday, which may sound familiar. Constable loved to paint the house, and George Gilbert Scott (architect of the Houses of Parliament) was also an occupant. But its best-loved resident has to be a fictional one: the very eccentric, cannon-shooting Admiral Boom.
Until 1967, St Paul’s soared across the London skyline as the city’s tallest building. The cathedral is one of London’s most iconic buildings and was a major symbol of resistance during the Blitz. Its front steps are etched in my memory as the setting for “Feed the Birds” in the film Mary Poppins. In the book version, Mary isn’t quite as sympathetic as the Disney version, implying birds shouldn’t be fed. Ah well, I’ll keep the Disney version if that’s OK.
And if you want an umbrella that’s practically perfect in every way, head over to James Smith and Sons for a parrot handle umbrella.
Sherlock Holmes
Forget the Sherlock Holmes Museum and head over to St Bartholomew’s, founded in 1123 and one of Britain’s oldest hospitals. A plaque inside the hospital’s museum marks the spot where Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson first met on New Year’s Day 1881, and where Sherlock uttered his famous words: “You have been in Afghanistan, I perceive.” If you’re a fan of the TV series, the roof of St Bart’s was the location for Sherlock’s “Reichenbach Fall” suicide.
And more than just a drinking hole, the Sherlock Holmes pub has a replica of Holmes’s study at 221B Baker Street, originally put together for the 1951 Festival of Britain. It’s stuffed full of Holmes memorabilia, including his famous pipe, violin and snuff box, and it’s close to the site of the old Scotland Yard.
The Jungle Book
Rudyard Kipling stayed at Brown’s Hotel and wrote part of The Jungle Book there. In his honour, the hotel’s signature suite has been named the Kipling. A white plaster monkey greets you at the door, and the suite’s library is stocked with Kipling books. If you can’t afford the eye-watering price of the room, try the afternoon tea at Brown’s Hotel instead. Arthur Conan Doyle, J.M. Barrie, Robert Louis Stevenson and Bram Stoker were also regular visitors.
Literary London for kids: Harry Potter
I won’t list all the Harry Potter locations across London, as there are plenty of other blog posts for that. Instead, go to House of MinaLima, a wizarding treasure trove in Soho. The gallery and shop showcase graphic works from the Harry Potter films, such as the Hogwarts Express ticket, Harry’s acceptance letter, copies of The Daily Prophet and the Marauder’s Map. The designing duo who own it also designed all the graphic elements for the Harry Potter films’ Diagon Alley, as well as graphics for other film and stage productions. Check the website for opening times and entry. It’s a highlight of any literary London for kids day out.
Not far away is Cecil Court, which dates to the seventeenth century and is named after Queen Elizabeth’s spymaster, Robert Cecil. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived at No 9, and it’s argued that he composed his first symphony here. Today it’s referred to as Booksellers’ Row, due to the volume of second hand and antique bookshops which line the street, and it’s said to be the inspiration for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley.
And if you feel the need to rest your winged feet, fly over to Soho for a Potion Room afternoon tea at Cutter and Squidge, with a spellbinding potions class.
The BFG
You might not be able to sneak into the bedroom of Her Majesty the Queen with the BFG and Sophie, but you can take a royal tour of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace instead. But don’t even think about sliding down the banister of the Grand Staircase!
Staying with Roald Dahl, the illustrator who breathed form into his characters was Sir Quentin Blake, founder of the House of Illustration. His charity has since opened a new home, the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration at New River Head in Clerkenwell, with exhibitions, a free illustration library and gardens.
Winnie-the-Pooh
A. A. Milne purchased a stuffed bear from Harrods and gave it to his son, Christopher Robin, for his first birthday on 21 August 1921. The name Winnie-the-Pooh came from a combination of a black bear named Winnie at London Zoo and a swan by the name of Pooh in Milne’s poetry collection When We Were Very Young. No 13 Mallord Street (it used to be No 11) in Chelsea is where Christopher Robin was born. You can visit the bear that Milne and his son loved to see at London Zoo.
Shakespeare’s Globe
And last but not least, for the king of all London literary venues, head over to Shakespeare’s Globe. A tour brings to life colourful stories of the 1599 Globe and examines the reconstruction process in the 1990s, and an exhibition under the theatre explores the life of Shakespeare and the London where he lived. If you get the chance, catch one of the first-class performances. I always say the best value are the standing tickets in the Yard. This is how to experience the Bard at its most raucous, and you’ll feel like you’re part of the production.
End your literary London for kids trip in style
Visit the magical bookshop Tales on Moon Lane, have a Mad Hatter’s Afternoon Tea at the Sanderson, and buy a first or rare edition of Alice Through the Looking Glass at Alice Through the Looking Glass in Cecil Court.
However you plan it, a day of literary London for kids is one of the best ways to bring the city’s stories to life, so pack a picnic, a map and plenty of imagination.