As seen on the Michael Baisden Live

Viola Davis has taken a break from dominating the courtrooms in ABC’s hit #ShondaLand series, How to Get Away With Murder, to go back to her childhood roots.

This September, the 52 year-old actress will be releasing her first children’s book titled, Corduroy Takes A Bow . The book, originally published in 1968, tells the story of a teddy bear who visits the theater with his friend, a little black girl named Lisa.

Davis read the book as a child growing up on a former plantation in Rhode Island in a one-room shack. In an interview with PEOPLE Magazine, the actress says she found solace in the characters and was especially touched that one of them was someone she could relate to.

“When I was a little girl, it wasn’t often that I found myself reflected in the pages of a book,” she tells PEOPLE on March 13. “Corduroy was an exception, and I adored flipping through it.”
Vice president and publisher of Viking Children’s Books, Ken Wright, calls Davis an “extraordinary creative talent.”

“Viola and Corduroy felt from day one like a perfect match, and she does a magnificent job introducing this beloved character to the theater world that she knows so well,” Wright tells PEOPLE. “There could no one better suited to maintain and build upon Corduroy creator Don Freeman’s enduring legacy.”

Corduroy Takes A Bow will be released on the 50th anniversary of the original book on Sept. 4, 2018. The actress says she hopes to familiarize her 6 year-old daughter, Genesis, with Corduroy the teddy bear and inspire a whole new generation of young readers.

Davis is the only African-American woman to have won an Emmy, Tony and Oscar award, starring in acclaimed roles such as Doubt (2008), The Help (2011), Get on Up (2014) and Fences (2016).