A large group of children eagerly awaited the personal appearance of Geronimo Stilton at the Gilbert H. Gragg Library summer reading program Tuesday morning.

Geronimo is a fictional mouse who is the subject of a series of popular children’s books written by Italian author, Elisabetta Dami and published by Edizioni Piemme, a publishing firm in Milan, Italy.

The stories revolve around events in Geronimo’s life on Mouse Island, where he is the editor of The Rodent Gazette.

Geronimo was introduced to the children by Carole Albyn, youth services and community relations librarian, who read a portion of the book “Surf’s Up Geronimo.” Albyn also explained the summer reading program and the rewards given for completing 20 books.

Geronimo danced into the room and the children eagerly joined in the dance before having their photos taken with the Big Mouse, himself.