Almost 500 students, parents and grandparents showed up at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience on Thursday night to meet the author and illustrator of the new children’s book “One Mississippi,” which is based on the state’s new official song.

The students, representing several schools in the area, also got the chance to perform the song, “One Mississippi,” on the steps of The MAX’s courtyard along with songwriter and country music singer Steve Azar, a native of the Mississippi Delta.

Azar originally wrote the song, “One Mississippi,” in 2016 for the state’s bicentennial. In 2022, Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill replacing the state’s old song with Azar’s “One Mississippi.” The song was recorded in The MAX Governors Studio.

“We are so excited to see how our community has supported this event,” said Laura Hester, interim president and director of communications and programs of The MAX.

Hester said the event was another way to demonstrate the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience’s mission of showcasing artists, writers, songwriters and musicians from all around the state and showed that the museum can appeal to a wide audience and not just local crowds.

“What is really special to all of us here is that this event shows we are a museum for all of Mississippi,” she said.

The book “One Mississippi” was written by Azar, based on his song, and illustrated by Oxford author and illustrator Sarah Frances Hardy. It one of the latest books published by the Nautilus Publishing Company, based in Oxford and operated by Neil White, who also was in attendance at the event.

Numerous students were on hand to participate, representing St. Patrick Catholic School, Lamar School, Kemper Academy and Crestwood Elementary School, among others. They were accompanied by parents and grandparents, some who were just as excited as the children to be there.

Azar and Hardy signed copies of the book following the musical performance.

The 32-page “One Mississippi” book features seven characters who take readers through the lyrics of the state song, which focuses on Mississippi’s history, geography, and deep music and literary heritage.

“Steve got the idea of turning the song into a children’s book that would bring the song to an even wider audience and really bring it to the kids of Mississippi,” Hardy told a roomful of spectators during an illustrated talk at the start of the evening.

A Mississippi native, Hardy earned an art degree from Davidson College and studied at Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris. She has exhibited her work in galleries throughout the Southeast and has published three other children’s books.

Hardy explained to the students how she and Azar went about collaborating on the book, saying she had taken notes he had written in which he broke the song into stanzas and came up with ideas, then she began working on the two-page spreads.

When creating her illustrations, Hardy said she went about incorporating lots of Mississippi’s historical facts, symbols, famous citizens, geography and well-known dishes into her paintings. From fried catfish and Elvis Presley to the Natchez Trace and B.B. King, there are numerous Mississippi references found throughout the book.

One hidden easter egg Hardy revealed to the students was that a mockingbird, the state bird, can be found somewhere in each of her illustrations, which set the students on a quest to find the bird as Hardy read through the book. The children followed along with the reading, singing along during the pages which featured the song’s catchy chorus.

Azar, a famous native son himself, is a songwriter, recording artist and music producer who has released seven critically acclaimed studio albums. He is the winner of the 2021 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters best contemporary album for “My Mississippi Reunion,” a collection of new and remastered songs inspired by his Mississippi roots.

After Hardy’s talk, the students joined Azar in The MAX’s courtyard to perform “One Mississippi,” for the large crowd.

“Don’t ever forget about where you came from,” he told the students, “which says a lot about this song because I do believe that we are the most beautiful place on earth.”