¹     Have you met Lily? She is a little mouse. She has a purple plastic purse. She also has a lot of friends. Her brother is Julius. He is the "baby of the world." All of these mice were created by Kevin Henkes. He is an author. He is an illustrator, too. He has written a lot of books. Some are picture books. Others are about mice. Lily, Wendell, and Chrysanthemum star in some of his books. He has also written novels. These chapter books are for young adults.
 
²     Kevin Henkes always hoped he'd grow up to be an artist. He has always loved to draw. His teachers used to tell him that he drew very well. His parents told him that he was a good artist, too. This made him love drawing even more! He also loved books. He would take his books everywhere. Many of his books got pretty messy. The spines would get bent. The pages would get dirty. Sometimes, they'd even start to smell like peanut butter. Kevin used to write his name inside the books' covers. He would use colorful crayons. He was proud of his books. He loved them very much.

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