Special treat in store for Derry's young book lovers

A well-known Derry bookseller will celebrate a special milestone this weekend when she hosts the first children's storytelling event at her new premises.

Jenni Doherty's Little Acorns bookshop will be the venue for an afternoon of storytelling and drawing with the creators of The Book Who Wanted to be Loved, a heartwarming tale that, appropriately, captures the magic of bookshops and stories.

It's an exciting first for Jenni, whose shop in Foyle Street was too small to accommodate big gatherings. But, having moved to larger premises in Great James' Street earlier this year, she has plenty of space to work with in the Georgian three-storey building and hopes Sunday's event will be the first of many.

She said: “I'm still only partially opened as I have six rooms in total to do up, but the kids and young adults' section is completely done because, for me, it's the most important one.

“This will be my first big children's event. What's really lovely is that the author of The Book Who Wanted to Be Loved (John Bittles) works in the No Alibis bookshop in Belfast and the illustrator (Rebecca Elliot) is also from the North. I'm all about supporting local and supporting independent, so this is a special one for me.”

All are welcome to the free event, which takes place this Sunday (July 9) at Little Acorns from 2-3pm. It is suitable for children aged between 2 to 6 years of age, with the very young to be accompanied by an adult. Places are limited to 20-25 children so please send an email to littleacornsbookstore@yahoo.co.uk to reserve a place, being sure to include the name and age of the child.

Author John Bittles and illustrator Rebecca Elliot.

"I've spoken to some of the adults who are coming and they are more excited than their children," joked Jenni. "I've noticed people are coming into the shop, maybe either side of a dentist appointment or as part of a run up the town with their child, just to get a bit of calm, and also a lot of visitors to the city are finding their way to my door.

"This is a business and making a living is of course important to me, but I also love the idea that people come here for an experience and not just a transaction.

“There is so much potential here because of the space I have; hopefully this will be my 'forever home'.”