BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. – Bridgeport StoryWalk celebrated their guest author, Matt Browning, and showcased his book at the Bridgeport City Park on Saturday, June 4.

Melanie Groves, the Bridgeport StoryWalk Coordinator, reached out to Browning about his children’s book, Chicks and the City, and asked him to participate in her StoryWalk for the month of June. He was more than honored to drive from Charleston, W.Va. to showcase his book.

The book signing started at 1 p.m. at the park, where each page of his book was put on signs to walk the trail and read. Multiple kids and families took a stroll to either read or scan the QR codes to listen to the book.

There was even a little girl who brought her pet chicken to the walk to represent the chicken in the story. She read to her chicken at every sign, and said that she likes to read to her other chickens as well.

The book is about a chicken named Stu, who finds himself in the city, and becomes overwhelmed. He shortly finds his way through the city and finds a great outcome in his journey. Inspiration for this book came to Browning at his previous job in marketing for and urban agriculture event. They developed the chicken with a necktie as their mascot, he then began to come up with a backstory for “Stu,” and realized “there is a story somewhere in this.”

Browning felt a certain way about his book being chosen for the StoryWalk. He said, “you know, I think it was such an honor to be asked, but to be here today and see it in person is just such an icing on the cake for me. Because I had never, I had heard of a story walk, but I had never been here myself to see one. So to be walking around and look over, and here are the pages of my book. You know, for the whole world to see and enjoy, is really, really humbling.”

He has two other books called, “Bookstore Explorer: West Virginia” and “The Definitive Golden Girls Cultural Reference Guide.” If interested in buying any of his books, you can find them on his website.

Bridgeport StoryWalk had some exciting news to share on Saturday. They received a generous donation from a sponsor to get more resilient page holders on the trail.

The next StoryWalk will be held during the first week of July, where the featured author will be Cathy Bonnstetter from Morgantown.

To keep up to date on when future StoryWalks will be held, click here.