FAMILIES are being invited to a free story time event in St Helens on Saturday morning.
St Helens Book Stop will be staging a reading of The Tiger Who Came to Tea at 11am on Saturday, February 3.
The book, by Judith Kerr, is a children's classic, telling the story of Sophie and her family who get a visit from a big, furry stripy tiger.
The independent book shop on Bridge Street hosts regular events on Saturdays to encourage reading.
It recently won Newcomer of the Year in awards run by the title by National Book Tokens.
Discussing the bookshop’s achievement with the Star last month, store manager Nik Lowe said: "It’s amazing. It’s not something we applied for, so it was a lovely phone call to receive.
Back by popular demand: #TheTigerWhoCameToTea! The children's classic by #JudithKerr has been chosen for this week's FREE story time so be sure to join us at 11am tomorrow. #sthelens #whatsoninsthelens #freeevent #childrensevent #shoplocal #supportlocal #indiebookshop pic.twitter.com/PEDjVPNcXs
— The Book Stops Here 📕 (@StHBookStop) February 3, 2023
"It was a total shock, but we’re very humbled and made up – we’re over the moon.
"It’s lovely recognition of the hard work of the volunteers and the work everyone has put into making it a success and to have a place in St Helens for people to enjoy.
"The support from the community has been unreal; they’ve welcomed us and keep continuing to support us on a daily basis.
"Thank you to all our customers and supporters for the last year; hopefully the people of St Helens can be as proud as we are for achieving it."
The book shop opened in the town centre in 2021 after a generous £45,000 was crowdfunded to bring a community book shop to St Helens.
St Helens Book Stop, which turned one in November, had more than 300 members consisting of people from the community of St Helens and people who used to live in the town getting behind the community project.
The late Brian Leyland, who passed away in February last year, was described as "the driving force" of the shop’s launch as the chairman of the Trustees played a key role in opening the Bridge Street store.
Nik added: "It would’ve meant everything to him; without Brian, there would be no Book Stop.
"There is a committee of Trustees who do a lot of work behind the scenes, but Brian was really the driving force that got this off the ground. Without him, we would never have gotten to the stage we are now.
"So, wherever he is, I think he would be very proud."
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