Readers line the stage at last year’s Readers Theater performance presented by Midcoast Literacy. Courtesy of Midcoast Literacy

The characters from four children’s picture books are coming to the stage in Bath this fall. Local nonprofit Midcoast Literacy will present a live Readers Theater performance from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Morse High School Auditorium. Activities for kids inspired by the stories will be held before the show starting at 1 p.m. For families with children ages 4-10, the one-hour performance by local, professional actors will feature “A Piglet Named Mercy” by Kate DiCamillo, “The Friend Ship” by Kat Yeh, “Library Lion” by Michelle Knudsen and “The Monster’s Monster” by Patrick McDonnell. Tickets are $10 each or $35 for a family (four to eight people) and can be purchased at midcoastliteracy.org or by calling 443-6384.

The covers of the four children’s books that will be read/performed during Readers Theater on Nov. 2. Courtesy of Midcoast Literacy

“Readers Theater is such a unique and fun way to share the love of reading with families,” Midcoast Literacy’s Executive Director Daniel Burson said in a prepared release. “Seeing the kids last year taking part whole-heartedly in the pre-show activities and then watching the show, with faces painted, intent on the stories, was a special moment. We can’t wait to welcome a bigger crowd this year!”

Readers Theater is a style of performance that blends the reading aloud of a book with theatrical elements before a live audience. The cast of actors simultaneously narrates the story and brings added life to the characters through voice, expression and movement. In “A Piglet Named Mercy,” Mr. and Mrs. Watson’s hum-drum lives are shaken up when a tiny, unpredictable piglet brings love (and chaos) to their ordinary neighborhood. In “The Friend Ship,” a lonely hedgehog hears about a mysterious Friend Ship and sets off on a daring voyage to track it down, picking up other animals along the way. In “Library Lion,” when a lion comes to Miss Merriwether’s orderly library one day, no one is sure what to do; there aren’t any rules about lions in the library. And in “The Monster’s Monster,” three little monsters decide to make the biggest, baddest monster ever to wreck mayhem in the village, but their monstrous creation has other ideas.

This event is sponsored by Bowdoin College and Bath Sunrise Rotary. All proceeds will support Midcoast Literacy’s Read Together tutoring program for children ages 6-14. To find out more about getting help with literacy skills, becoming a volunteer or attending a future Readers Theater production, go to midcoastliteracy.org.