UNC Wilmington graduate Justin Pope’s children’s series Henry and Matilda’s Adventures hit the shelves of Barnes & Noble this year. After selling out at a book signing in Wilmington’s Mayfaire earlier this month, Pope is scheduled to visit New York City and Charleston, S.C., the settings of his books, in March.

As a young boy, Justin Pope was raised on a farm in Goldsboro, N.C. his mother, father, five siblings, and a chicken named Matilda. Additionally, “Henry was a real dog, and he was special,” said Pope.

Pope said he knew as early as second grade that his dream was to write.

Before transferring to UNC Wilmington, Pope attended community college and served as the editor-in-chief of its student newspaper. At UNCW, he majored in communications, focusing on broadcast journalism and public relations. Pope graduated from UNCW in 2005.

Later in life, Pope and his friend Drew made their way to New York City for a week. Riding horse and buggy, he said “it was like seeing New York through the eyes of a child” because Drew had never had such an experience before. Inspired, Pope sat down to write a story; it wasn’t until then that he had considered writing children’s books.

“This was just a dream from a trip,” Pope said.

Melonie Wood, a local Goldsboro artist, illustrated Pope’s children’s books after having visited his family’s farm for inspiration.

He published his first book in 2011, only six years after he graduated from UNCW.  Working with Sleepytown, a small publishing house based in Atlanta, GA, Pope struggled to get the books on the shelf.

“It was scary. [NYC bookstores] didn’t want to take a chance,” he said. For his second book, Pope entered the southern market with one of his favorite cities, Charleston, S.C., at the recommendation of his book editor, and he is now working with the tourism bureaus of both cities to promote his series.

The third book of the series, Henry and Matilda’s Adventure to Wilmington, is due out before the holiday season. Pope lives and works in Wilmington as a systems administrator for pediatrics at the New Hanover County Hospital.

In addition to his two jobs, Pope is currently working with film student Noah Campagna at UNCW’s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to animate his series. Another project he foresees down road is Henry and Matilda’s Vegetable Truck, a game app for kids to learn the names of vegetables. “We are going into product development and the branding process now,” he said.