FAMILIES will be able to step into a scene from Alice in Wonderland at a new immersive exhibition in the city centre.

Taking tea with the Mad Hatter, March Hare and Dormouse is just one of the attractions of Animal: A Safari Through Stories, which opens at The Story Museum in Pembroke Street on February 13. Visitors to the 12 installations will also have the chance to enter the stable where Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse, Joey, is kept, and find out what their demons are in Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights trilogy.

Museum spokeswoman Sophie Hiscock said: “Alice is an icon for Oxford and we just had to include her.

“Animals feature extensively in Lewis Carroll’s writing – dressing and talking like people and highlighting the absurdity of Wonderland.

“When we were putting together our new exhibition about animals in children’s literature we knew we had to have an Alice-themed element.

“The Alice story is such a key part of Oxford’s literary heritage.”

Since 2005, The Story Museum has also coordinated Oxford’s annual Alice’s Day, which brings visitors from across the world for a celebration of Carroll’s character.

The event on July 2 will focus on the animals in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland so expect more lobster quadrilles and mad tea parties. Last year there was a giant puppet and 150 Alices for the 150th anniversary of the book.