Terror at the Zoo (15 page)

That night, the picture was on the front page. It showed Ellen and Corey standing in front of Hugo. Hugo’s trunk rested lightly on Ellen’s shoulder.

The headline said, TERROR AT THE ZOO.

Ellen read the article and started to laugh. “Listen to this,” she told Corey, and then read one paragraph out loud: “The representative of the Woodland Park Zoological Society who arranged the camp-out was not present. She was at Swedish Hospital, where, at four
A.M.
, her daughter gave birth to twins.”

“See?” Corey said. “Nobody ever believes me.”

Peg Kehret’s
books for young readers are regularly recommended by the American Library Association, the International Reading Association, and the Children’s Book Council. She has won numerous state awards, as well as the Golden Kite Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the PEN Center Award for Children’s Literature.

Ms. Kehret and her husband live in a log house near Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State. From her home office she watches deer, elk, hummingbirds, and hawks. The couple have two grown children, four grandchildren, a dog, and two cats. When she is not writing, Ms. Kehret likes to read, watch baseball, and pump her old player piano.