THE FIRST ever exhibition dedicated to Quentin Blake’s illustrations for poetry is coming to Poole.

Quentin Blake: Illustrating Verse will visit Lighthouse Poole between Friday, September 29 and Saturday, January 6.

The free entry exhibition is touring a limited number of UK venues.

People will be able to visit the exhibition from Tuesday to Saturday between 10am and 8pm in Lighthouse’s main gallery on the ground floor.

Quentin Blake has been writing and illustrating poetry throughout his 60-year career.

Many of his own books feature rhymes and songs, and he has collaborated with writers including Michael Rosen and Roald Dahl.

As well as artwork for popular nursery rhymes like The Owl and the Pussycat and classic stories including Alice in Wonderland, the exhibition features previously unseen works from Blake’s archive.

These include surreal illustrations for Sylvia Plath’s The Bed Book and mischievous cats for T S Elliot’s The Song of the Jellicles.

Sketchbooks and rough drawings give a rare insight into Blake’s writing and book design process, as well as the creation of characters for Roald Dahl’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and his own Mr Magnolia.