New Dominion Bookshop to host Children’s Storytime with author Dougie Morris

New Dominion Bookshop in Charlottesville will host a special children’s storytime with local author Dougie Morris on Saturday, Dec. 8, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

Morris will be reading from her children’s picture books, Wilhelmina Under the Stairs and Toby and Sophie. This event is free to attend. All ages are welcome.

About the Books: Wilhelmina Under the Stairs, a chapter book, is suggested for ages 6-10. It is based on events that occurred after the Maury River flooded Morris’s weekend home outside of Lexington, VA. Wilhelmina has lived her whole life in peaceful safety on the banks of the Maury River. She’s one of the Maury River rats, a stable, close-knit pack. But Wilhelmina’s bored with safety and tired of being protected. She longs to break free and strike out on her own. When a flood sweeps her away from her family, she’s washed downstream and into the adventure of a lifetime.

Toby and Sophie was written for younger readers, ages 4-8. This chapter book is a fresh spin-off of the classic tale of The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, with an original twist that includes a focus on books and her love for reading. Two mice meet in an unlikely place, under leaves, near the Goshen Library. And guess what? The town mouse, Sophie, can read! Toby, the country mouse, who has hitched a ride in Farmer Harris’s old white truck is fascinated that a mouse can read. But this first visit away from the farm is short. He knows Mama will be worried if he is late for supper and Papa will be furious that he has gone to Goshen which is something that farm mice never do. That evening at supper, Toby tells his family about going to town, meeting Sophie, seeing a library, and this thing called reading. Before going to bed, Papa warns him again of the dangers of leaving the farm, but this curious mouse cannot resist the lure of books and adventure.

About the Author: Dougie Morris, a 2010 Virginia Festival of the Book participant, has written two children’s chapter books, which she and her daughter illustrated. On December 8, she will share the original drawings and talk about the books as well as reading selections from each one.