Mom praises Target worker by saying he ‘made a difference’ by reading her son a book in the store

A Target employee is being praised for reading a book to a four-year-old boy inside a Wisconsin store.   

The adorable moment was captured by Alyssa McCombs, the mother of the young boy, and became viral after she shared a photo on Facebook. 

In the photo, a retail worker named Trey Hawthorne can be seen sitting on a pink bean bag chair while reading a Dr. Seuss story book near the toy section. 

On his right, the young boy is cuddled with a Cat in the Hat stuffed animal in his own bean bag chair and listening admiringly. 

The pair were part of the Dr. Seuss’s birthday celebrations around the country on March 2. 

As part of the Dr. Seuss festivities, Target store provided read-alongs of What Pet Should I Get every 30 minutes, giveaways and other activities.  

McCombs lauded Trey for being being patient and engaging with her son. 

She wrote: ‘He could have just handed us the coloring book Target was offering for Dr. Seuss’ birthday. He could have quickly silenced my kid with the free fruit snacks offered. 

‘But he didn’t. He gave my child choices and time to make them. He let him pick the book to read and the stuffed animal to hold. 

‘He pulled out two bean bag chairs and confidently sat in the pink one as my child instructed. He read with passion and care and laughed with my 4yo at the silly parts. Thank you Trey. 

‘You didn’t just read my son a book. You made a difference. Right there, right in a center aisle of Target.’

Of Hawthorne’s touching actions, McCombs (left) said: ‘You didn’t just read my son a book. You made a difference. Right there, right in a center aisle of Target’ 

Since McCombs shared the sweet interaction online, her post has amassed more than 22,000 shares, 51,000 likes and around 1,700 comments. 

The reactions to the priceless moment were heartwarming. 

‘As an educator this makes me smile to see two strangers enjoying a book,’ one teacher wrote. ‘Also, this highlights the good in people since we usually only hear negative. Thank you for going above and beyond for this youngster.’ 

Several social media users called Hawthorne (pictured) a role model and suggested he go into a career field helping children 

After word spread of Hawthorne’s compassion towards the young boy (pictured), the viral post received more than 2,000 shares and 51,000 likes

‘What a gem of an employee and human being,’ another woman wrote.  

Some called on Target and other companies to allow more employees to interact with customers like that. 

‘We need more of this…and more company’s that will allow this!!! So much love for this…pictures may say a thousand words but the memories they hold r so much more precious,’ they wrote. 

A user wrote: ‘Employees like this don’t get the credit they deserve. What a nice guy, I hope his boss praises him for his kind actions.’

One mother shared a similar story and shared a photo of a Target employee in Florida reading to her daughter.  

A mother in Florida shared a similar story of a Target employee reading a Dr. Seuss book to her daughter

She said: ‘I took mine daughter to the one in Fl…what an amazing sir.’  

Several others called Trey a ‘role model’ and suggested he go into education as a future career. 

But the biggest takeaway was that people want more ‘Trey’s’ in their lives. 

‘We need more “Trey’s” in this world!’ a person commented. 

‘Everybody needs a little bit of Trey in their life,’ another said.  

DailyMail.com has reached out for further comments.