Meet the "Offer" - Mice on Main

A few weeks ago, the girls and I were downtown with my Aunt Donna.  We shopped a little in the girls favorite toy store, O.P. Taylor, then made our way to The Mast General Store.  This store is one of the most popular stores in Greenville, SC.  It has lots of interesting things including a giant candy department, many unique t-shirts and other articles of clothing, toys, kites, and books.

One book in particular, Mice On Main.  This is a special book- the author and illustrator worked together with a young man to create the book, and place the little bronze mice statues in various places downtown Greenville.  The book gives you clues, based on the personality of each mouse, as to where to find the mice.  The girls have had fun looking for the mice, but had never owned their own copy of the book.

Welp, December 15, 2012, would be their lucky day!  And what a lucky day it was- not just for them, but for my Aunt Donna and myself too.

We walk into the Mast General Store, and there sat two ladies at a table with copies of Mice On Main, some mice plush toys, and other Mice On Main souvenirs. Not only that, they were just a few minutes away from packing up and leaving when we walked up, surprised, not realizing what was about to happen.

It took seconds- my Aunt Donna and I realized they were the author and illustrator of Mice On Main.  They introduced themselves to the girls, and this was Jenna's reaction:

"OH!!! This is sooooo COOL!!! I get to meet a REAL OFFER!!!!! I love reading and this is like, one of my favorite books and I love to read!!! This is the BEST DAY EVER!!!!!!"

(OFFER = Jenna's adorable attempt to say the word Author. haha!)

Even Lexie squealed with excitement!

The Author, Linda Kelly, just smiled so big and told Jenna how wonderful it was that she loves to read, and to keep it up, and maybe be an author herself someday!  It was so sweet, both girls hugged the very kind ladies, Ms. Linda Kelly, and Ms. Zan Wells (Illustrator of Mice On Main). \

My Aunt bought each of the girls one of the books that Ms. Kelly and Ms. Wells signed with special notes for the girls, and she even got one for herself.

I love that my kids love to read.  I love their excitement over meeting authors, or as Jenna would say "a REAL OFFER"!!! I love that we got there in time to share that beautiful moment.

snapshots of each of the mice - this picture is in the back of the book to help you with your scavenger hunt in downtown Greenville!

Left to Right: Zan Wells (Illustrator of Mice On Main), Jenna, Lexie, and Linda Kelly, (Author of Mice On Main)