Seven Stories The National Centre for Children's Books

I went here with a friend and a 12 month and 14 month old. Gallery: lovely nostalgic sketches for adults. Not much to do for babies-2 year olds. Dress up, colouring in, role play for older kids. Themed story areas. My little one liked the lit up arch on the 4th floor the most- would be nice to introduce a young ones story themed sensory area maybe? We turned up and the story time event was fully booked along with the craft sessions. Maybe should have some space for walk-ins? The gallery spaces desperately needed the floors cleaning and dusting. Cafe: not suitable for nut allergies. It sells peanut Graze products. There were peanuts all over the table and it was only wiped clean. You’d think they wouldn’t sell nuts in a children’s centre where millions of kids have nut allergies? Sold sandwiches and cake. Friend said cake was very good. FYI about £4 for a hot chocolate. The high chair straps were broken. Toilets: 1 baby change in women’s, 1 in men. We queued. Accessibility: due to the nature of the building there is only one lift and we had to wait quite a while for it on each floor. There are also a lot of doors which is hard with a pram. It’s brilliant to promote reading for children and we’re lucky to have this venue in the north east. But I think it would be nicer with an older child if you could get booked onto an event, sit and read stories, colour in, role play etc. Otherwise there’s not much to do for a 0-2 year old.

I have been to Seven Stories numerous times over the last 7 years with my two children and can’t fault it. We visited today for a jungle craft and had an amazing time! Shout out to Lawrence who provided us with brilliant entertainment whilst reading us a story before our crafts. Absolutely brilliant!

I adore this children's literature-themed place very much. The first floor is the bookshop and a big cafe. The second to fourth floors are galleries for presenting different authors’ artworks. It was very nice to see how many cute hand drawings and decor they demonstrated. I like how they designed some places for kids to hide and play. Also, they have giant toys displayed on two floors which are based on the characters from children’s books. It is such an amazing combo of a bookshop and galleries to go to, especially for kids with their families.

Free venue. Brilliant inside. My little boy loves it. Asking to go back since the panto last week - The opening times need updated on google and Facebook page as it's closed on Wednesdays during term time. Got a very tearful little man 😫

An amazing place for lovers of children's literature. Plenty of space for children to explore and create. Plenty of books everywhere for children (and adults) to read, as well as original manuscript exerts and illustrations from the creators of these marvellous stories. Please donate, as it's free to enter. See the website or box office for events.

Beautiful place, very warm and welcoming. We visited for a hot drink, but they were unable to serve us because they were behind on orders. I was disappointed but totally understood. Will go back. The shop is really good and had some great stock.

Amazing centre for children's literature, stories and informative exhibitions. Cafe, toilets, baby change and bookshop on site. Cafe and bookshop free admission. Very well presented and ideal due families and younger children. Full of attractive, well designed themed exhibitions on children's literature which regularly change. Would recommend, ideal for 2 - 11 year olds.

Visited recently and is terribly rundown. I understand entry is free but feels like a very uninspiring venue for children. It was also very smelly.

Seven Stories is the National Centre for Childrens Books. The building has seven stories to reflect the claim that there are only seven stories in all the world. Downstairs is mostly devoted to an excellent childrens book shop. You pay to see the rest. Downstairs there is the engine room with craft activities for kids and a post office to stimulate imaginative play. Then upstairs to the exhibitions. At the moment the main focus is naughty heroes, and horrid henry features heavily. The exhibitions tend to be of the look at this pretty artwork type and not as interactive as they could be. Upstairs is a studio space with storytelling chairs, a stage and dressing up clothes. A special mention for the hungry caterpillar cafe which overlooks the canel at the back and is a great place to take kids to eat. This is a cut above the eating to be found generally at this type of place. Seven stories runs a regular programme of events, such as storytelling, which are excellent. Check the website as sometimes you need to book for this. I would reccomend saving a visit for these days.

My family and I visited Seven Stories last Saturday and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My eldest son who is 4 loves Juliia Donaldson books so the fact that one floor was devoted to her was a big bonus. This floor included a massive Gruffalo figure, a small house a child could walk into full of stuffed animals depicting the 'A Squash and a Squeeze' book and an area to get dressed up as your favourite character and play out one of the books. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful and the food in the cafe was fantastic (too good for kids) ;) a fantastic book shop too with lots of unique books and some old favourites. Adult entry £6.50 Child entry £5.50 (4+) under 4 free Great value for a Half day experience

We really looked forward to visiting Seven Stories as we are all avid readers BUT so disappointing. The bookshop is excellent although not the cheapest around. The cafe is too poncy as my * yr old put it - learnt from his dad I think, no normal kids food - and certainly not cheap, seems to cater to the green organic middle classes rather than the majority. The exhibitions weren't engaging enough for young minds who don't get the intricacies of illustration or ths history of childrens storytelling. One floor was closed for a workshop and there just wasnt enough to keep us busy until it was finished to visit that floor so it was six stories for us. A good place to take young kids to introduce them to different genres and styles of books or older kids who would appreciate the history and work that goes into producing a book but my son was extremely unimpressed by everthing except the bookshop - until mums money ran out!