The £3million renovation includes new attractions, updated facilities, a colourful mural and so much more to come
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Even from the outside, it’s clear Discover Children’s Story Centre is full to bursting with adventure and inspiration.
There’s a colourful three-eyed monster popping out of its roof.
Located in Stratford High Street a few minutes’ walk from the station, the building recently reopened to the public following a £3million renovation featuring myriad new attractions for kids aged 0-11 and their adults.
“Discover is a hands-on centre for creative story sharing,” said Rebekah Polding, the charity’s CEO.
“When you come here, there’s nothing children can’t touch – they are completely free when they come through our doors to enjoy play, making stories, reading books and taking part in storytelling sessions in whatever way works for them.
“Children learn through play, they learn to love stories, to love reading and, as we know, loving books is the single greatest skill that any child can develop to lead a long, happy and successful life.
“It is the magic bullet, it is transformative.
“Books can help us overcome anything this world throws at us. I’m so proud that Discover delivers that for the people who come here.”
a haven, a cafe, a playground
Following the upgrade, the centre has been brightly decorated outside by artist Hanna Benihoud, whose colours frame large windows onto its new cafe and bookshop space.
Part haven for refreshments, part playground, this features a reception desk complete with purple fur, plenty of plywood construction to create nooks to explore and relax in as well as a horde of books dotted around that are free to read with kids.
This is an attraction in its own right, but pay for entry, venture into the centre and there’s so much more to discover.
Author and illustrator Rob Biddulph has been enlisted to create a graphic retelling of Discover’s origin story – billed as “totally real and intergalactic”.
Alien visitor Hootah, following the disappearance of stories on their own planet, Squiggly Diggly, has journeyed across space to Earth in search of tales to beam back across space and help restore their homeworld.
Consequently all visitors to Discover are not only enriching their own lives, they’re helping save another planet by creating and participating in storytelling.
Everywhere there are little and large Hootahs to spot, not to mention a space ship and plenty more steampunky installations to discover.
“We have a fairytale forest with a trip-trap bridge and plenty of areas for children to explore,” said Rebekah.
“Then on the upper floor there’s a spaceship theme that skews to slightly older kids.
“Outside, we have our beautiful story garden where we’ve increased the diversity of planting for sensory exploration and also have incredible structures to climb on.
“Everything has been designed with the help of children, taking inspiration from their imaginations.
“Following the renovation we now also have a dedicated multi-sensory space for our smallest visitors aged 0-2, filled with interactive toys.
“Books are a great bond between carers and little ones.
“You don’t need to be a scientist to see that babies tune into the person reading to them and they understand a little bit more about focus and concentration each time it happens.
“It’s like a really wonderful hug.”
a new quiet space and upgraded facilities
Also new is a quiet space that can be used for prayer, feeding or simply taking a little time out.
The centre also features a new heating and cooling system, to better cope with the extremes of weather the UK is now beset with, as well as refurbished toilet facilities that are fit for purpose.
“It feels amazing now we’re back in our space after a meanwhile pop-up in the Stratford Centre while the work was being done,” said Rebekah.
“Now we have a place where people can mingle that’s safe, a place where they can connect both for the people of Newham and London beyond.
“That’s part of the magic – interacting away from screens.
“We enable really supportive behaviours.
“There isn’t really a typical amount of time that people spend here.
“It depends a lot on the attention spans and energies of the individuals involved.
“But we’re designed as an enriching experience – there are lots of quiet nooks and corners where those who are here can rest and refresh themselves.
“A visit might involve free play, time in the gardens and then listening to one of our story builders’ interactive performances, which are included with entry.
“That might involve reading, creating, singing or dancing.
“We also have our early years shows which feature lots of props and action in an intimate setting.”
from film to stories
Rebekah herself is just the right mixture of silliness and passion.
She’s clearly delighted to be running an institution that carries a crucial message – the importance of reading for both personal education and enjoyment – but carries it with lightness and fun.
We spend some time during our interview, for example, seriously discussing the merits of various jacket potato toppings in the cafe (she is, naturally, right to champion beans and then cheese).
Having worked in the cultural sector her entire career, she became CEO of Discover via a route that included Picturehouse cinemas, Film London, BAFTA and Enfield Council.
She said: “I joined in April 2023 and am extremely grateful to my predecessor Karla Barcacle-Best who saw Discover through Covid.
“The first thing we did was to sit down with kids, local families, community groups and others and that’s enabled us to build our Stories For All strategic framework.
“One of the planks of that has been the capital renovation of the building called ‘up and out’ – words from Willy Wonka who also accepted no limits to what he could achieve.
“That’s the work that we’re nearly at the end of now, turning this former hotel from the 1870s into a place that families will really enjoy visiting in the 21st century.”
The next milestone in the project will be the opening of new immersive exhibition Luna Loves London on July 25, 2026, in the building’s basement, created with former children’s laureate Joseph Coelho and illustrator Fiona Lumbers.
even more to come…
Rebekah said: “These installations are unique to Discover and we have a history of celebrating some of the best writers in children’s literature – Judith Kerr, Michael Rosen and Julia Donaldson.
“The exhibition opens towards the end of the month and it’s a way for children to step in to the kinds of environments they’d find in the Luna Loves series.”
Visitors will encounter a bus, a library, a street for playing sports, an art gallery, a community garden, a dance studio and a carnival with a strong emphasis on the kind of down-to-earth settings of the real city rather than a collection of landmarks.
Tickets for the experience cost £5.50.
One further, major, change is also in the pipeline at the centre.
Discover is set to drop an enormous oak tree into the building that will sit proudly in a disused atrium under a glass roof.
“This is going to be so exciting,” said Rebekah.
“With the help of Adventure Playground Engineers, based in Canning Town, we’re going to build a three-storey vertical playground in its branches with wheelchair accessible treehouses guided by children’s designs.
“The idea is that stories grow like trees and there will be a whole series of adventures for kids to discover and explore.
“Stories are important. One of my favourite books is called My Cat Likes To Hide In Boxes.
“It’s a building story and includes the line: ‘The cat from Norway got stuck in the doorway’, which has always made me laugh.
“So, in our family, whenever anybody gets stuck, we all shout: ‘The cat from Norway’.
“This is what reading is. It’s about shared experience, empathy and connections between people.
“Telling each other how we experience the world and seeing it through new lenses.
“We built Discover so children can learn there’s no right way to tell a story – that’s why the monster on our roof has no name. You have to give them one.”
key details: Discover Children’s Story Centre
Discover Children’s Story Centre is located at 383-387 Stratford High Street and is open from 10am to 5pm every day.
Entry costs £11 for adults and children aged one and over.
Babies aged 0-1 are free. Discounts are available for Newham residents.
The best value option, however is £19 per person which grants a full year of unlimited access.
You can find out more about the centre here
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