Likewise, this school notebook reflects the use of educational materials as instruments of Fascist visual propaganda. The front cover shows a uniformed child holding the Italian tricolor in front of a military camp, beneath the slogan ‘Credere, Obbedire, Combattere’— ‘Believe, Obey, Fight’ — one of the best-known mottos of the Fascist regime. The image presents the ideal student as disciplined, patriotic, and prepared to serve the nation. The back cover continues this ideological framing through printed text and decorative layout, reinforcing civic and moral messages connected to obedience, national loyalty, and collective duty. Considered together, the front and back show how even ordinary school notebooks were used to transmit Fascist values and militarised ideals to children in everyday classroom life.

This notebook cover features the title ‘Terra Abissina’ in large curved lettering above a dramatic battle scene. In the central image, armed African fighters are shown in a rocky landscape, one operating a machine gun while another raises a rifle or spear in motion. Along the left side appears a large ‘fasces’, a central symbol of Fascism, combined with a small portrait of a uniformed child raising his arm in the Fascist salute.

At the bottom, the printed label ‘Quaderno di’ has been filled in by hand as ‘Copy book of English Language.’ The cover links a school exercise book with imagery of the Italo-Ethiopian colonial war, presenting empire, military action, and Fascist youth identity as part of everyday classroom culture.

Brian Wouldhave Alderson (born 1930) is an author, translator, critic, and children’s book historian. Having been a children's book collector for many years, his collection is made up of more than 20,000 books, dating from the 17th century to the present day. Works come from the United States, France, Germany and Britain, and the collection includes original illustrations and papers related to Brian’s diverse career. The Alderson (Brian) Collection is believed to be the largest privately-owned children’s literature collection in the UK. He has generously decided to donate his children’s literature collection jointly to Newcastle University and Seven Stories: The National Centre for Children's Books. Likewise, the Butler (Joan) Collection is a collection of children’s literature which had been created by Mary Thwaite and further developed by Joan Butler, both librarians for Hertfordshire Library Services. It was jointly acquired by the Robinson Library and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Books. The collection includes eighteenth-century pamphlets and books.

This section showcases a selection of illustrations from children’s fictional books held in the Alderson Collection and the Butler Collection. Together, these images reveal how nature was imagined in wartime British children's literature both as a metaphor for a world damaged by conflict and as a space of healing.

Published in 1940, The Snow Goose: A Story of Dunkirk is a novella by Paul Gallico set on the Essex marshes during the Second World War. It tells the story of Philip Rhayader, an disabled artist living in an abandoned lighthouse, whose life is transformed when a local girl, Fritha, brings him an injured snow goose. As their friendship develops, Rhayader nurses the bird back to health. The snow goose returns to the lighthouse during its annual migrations, becoming a symbol of hope and the enduring bonds between people and nature. Years later, Rhayader joins the Dunkirk evacuation in his small sailing boat, helping to rescue hundreds of stranded soldiers before disappearing at sea.

The snow goose, which had accompanied him, returns one final time to the now-grown Fritha. She understands the bird’s visit as Rhayader’s farewell. Soon after, a German air raid destroys Rhayader's lighthouse and nearly all of his paintings. Only one survives: a portrait of Fritha as a child, holding the wounded snow goose when they first met.

The Alderson Collection holds the 1946 illustrated edition of The Snow Goose, featuring artwork by Peter Scott. In Gallico’s story, both the snow goose and Philip Rhayader embody the physical and emotional wounds inflicted by war.

The Carnegie Medal for writing was established by the British Library Association in 1936 and has since become one of the most prestigious awards in British children’s literature. The Alderson Collection and the Butler Collection contain many Carnegie Medal-winning books. Although not directly concerned with the Second World War, several of the early award-winning books published during this period reflect a longing for nature and express subtle anti-war sentiments.

One such example is The Little Grey Men by ‘BB’ (the pen name of Denys Watkins-Pitchford), first published in 1942 and awarded the Carnegie Medal in the same year. Both written and illustrated by Watkins-Pitchford, the fantasy novel follows the adventures of four gnomes in the English countryside. The book is distinguished by its detailed observations of the natural world and its sensitivity to the dangers faced by wildlife. It remains one of the most significant works of wartime fantasy literature.

Like The Snow Goose, The Little Grey Men uses nature as a means of reflecting on the damage caused by human actions. Through its portrayal of vulnerable landscapes and creatures, the book invites young readers to consider humanity’s impact on the natural world, while also presenting nature as a source of peace, refuge, and hope during a time of conflict.

Alderson himself appears to have held the book in high regard. Although the original 1942 edition is absent from the archive, he collected three different later editions, attesting to its enduring significance within his collection.

Similarly, Visitors from London, written by Kitty Barne and illustrated by her cousin Ruth Gervis, tells the story of families in Sussex preparing to welcome evacuees from London during a summer in the Second World War. The book won the Carnegie Medal in the same year it was published, 1940, and is one of the earliest award-winning children’s novels to depict the outbreak of the war. Like the other books featured in this exhibition, its visual narrative is particularly important. Through 40 illustrations, Gervis focuses on the beauty of the countryside and the joys of rural life, showing children playing with animals and exploring the natural landscape. These images present a peaceful and comforting vision of wartime childhood, highlighting how nature and everyday life could offer a sense of stability during the war.

Below, you will find a selection of illustrations from the book that offers a closer look at how Gervis visualised rural childhood and wartime evacuation. This book is now collected in the Butler Collection at Newcastle University Special Collections & Archives.