Rare children's pictures on display

A collection of works illustrating 400 years of children's poems will go on display at the British Library on 1 April. Children's Laureate Michael Rosen has helped curate the exhibition.

The often-overlooked boozy side of Old Mother Hubbard is revealed in this 1806 illustration, which reads: "She went to the tavern for white wine and red; When she came back, the dog stood on his head."

The exhibition takes its title, Twinkle Twinkle, Little Bat, from this Lewis Carroll's rhyme for the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.

Tom Thumb's Pretty Songbook from 1744 is the earliest surviving printed collection of nursery rhymes. The oldest work on display is the lullaby Golden Slumbers which appeared in a play in 1603.

This work, also from Tom Thumb's Pretty Songbook, proves that toilet humour has always been popular with children. Other books in the exhibition tackle subjects like slavery, war and the environment.

Liverpudlian Walter Crane was part of the 19th Century Arts and Crafts movement, and illustrated several children's books, including The Baby's Opera: A Book of Old Rhymes in New Dresses.

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