I Know a Librarian Who Chewed on a Word - Tapa dura

All librarians love books, but have you ever met one who just ate them up . . . literally? Miss Devine does. In this adaptation of "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly," one Dewey Decimal diva has gone on a most unusual eating binge. From chomping down the story-hour chair to savoring the nonfiction shelf, Miss Devine is trying to chase down one particularly perfect word.

As the story, told by a wide-eyed witness, gets more outlandish, the tension builds. Children all over the library are dying to know: What combination of letters could have possibly started this absurdly all-consuming spree?

Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton is an award-winning children's author. Her best-selling book, Why Cowboys Sleep with Their Boots On, won the Premier Print Award from Eastman Kodak. A piece of art from another picture book, Red, White, and Blue, has been displayed by the Robert L. and Posy Huebner Collection and was highlighted on Martha Stewart's radio station. Her other books from Pelican include Cowgirl Alphabet, Why Cowgirls Are Such Sweet Talkers, Why Cowboys Need a Brand, Why Cowboys Need a Pardner, and Nana's Rice Pie. An international speaker, Knowlton loves kicking back on her ranch, Roots & Wings, in Medina, Ohio.

Award-winning artist Herb Leonhard has designed various promotional materials in support of local and national charities. His work has appeared in D Magazine and on album covers. Leonhard is the illustrator of Pelican's St. Patrick and the Three Brave Mice, Leonardo's Monster, A Southern Child's Garden of Verses, Way Out West on My Little Pony, and A Is for Alliguitar: Musical Alphabeasts. He lives in Prosser, Washington.