Happy Birthday, Kevin Henkes

One of our favorite authors is Kevin Henkes. Today is his birthday! I have to say that reading his books really began because of our love of all things rodents, and his little mice, especially Lilly, are hard not to fall in love with. While we have many of his books, Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse is one of those that we read the most, so it seemed a likely choice to create a lunch in honor of the author and his books.
If you aren't familiar with the book, Lilly is the main character and she has new glittery sunglasses and a fabulous new purple plastic purse that makes music when she opens it. She is so excited to share her new treasures with her friends at school, but she gets into a wee bit of trouble, too. Throughout Henkes' books, Lilly is a fun, sassy little mouse, complete with red cowboy boots, a red bow on her tail, and a confident way about her that I just adore.
I tried my best to make a lunch that incorporated ideas from this fantastic book! I made a Lilly cheese silhouette, with her special sunglasses, and even a little red bow on her tail. Details! We used picks for a mouse, music notes, a cowboy boot, and that very, very special purple, plastic purse, of course! Happy birthday, Kevin Henkes!

Red and orange bell peppers, peas, Swiss cheese, blueberries, pear, salami, chex mix (homemade, of course), and a toasted bagel thin.

In this lunch...