Popular children’s illustrator and author Nick Sharratt recently brought his touring exhibition to Manchester as part of the Read Manchester campaign, for which he is an ambassador.
The exhibition, ‘Pirates, Pants and Wellyphants – The Illustrated World of Nick Sharratt’, opened at Manchester Central Library on 6 May and ran until 1 July. The colourful, interactive exhibition featured many of Nick’s best-loved characters including Tracy Beaker, Hetty Feather and Pirate Pete.
Nick Sharratt visited the library to officially open the exhibition, an event which attracted 850 people in total. Visitors had the chance to meet Nick and have him sign copies of his books.
Over the course of the two months the exhibition was open, 5,233 people visited the exhibition, including lots of families and schools. Nick also came back to the exhibition in June to hold some arts and craft sessions with school pupils. Many schools brought classes along to these sessions, with 1,538 students from local schools visiting the exhibition to take part in activities.
One school, Kingsway Park School in Rochdale, brought 17 Year 7 and 8 students along to the exhibition, as a reward for attending the school’s library sessions that term. The school described the visit as “a vital experience for our students from a deprived area whom, in some cases, have not been on public transport into Manchester or visited a library.”
The students from Kingsway Park enjoyed visiting the exhibition and the library, taking part in a Nick Sharratt quiz and listening to stories from one of his books. The experience helped to change some of the students’ views on libraries, with many saying that the trip was fun and had changed their perception of what libraries can offer.