LEISURE: ARTIST PAINTS MURAL FOR CHILDREN AT CHAFFEE LIBRARY

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- The Cat in the Hat and the Cow that Jumped Over the Moon have leaped out of the children's books at the Chaffee Public Library and onto the walls.

A mural by Chaffee artist Aaron Horrell has brought children's literature to life in a corner of the tiny library. Fittingly, Horrell's children helped.

Levi, 14, searched the children's books at the library for the best characters. Toni, 16, painted much of the Dr. Seuss section, and 15-year-old Annette was responsible for the Rainbow Brite area.

There are prehistoric monsters, wild things from Maurice Sendak's imagination, Berenstain Bears, the King of Hearts from "Alice in Wonderland," and a polka dot dog from "Put Me in the Zoo." There are horses, lizards, dancing pumpkins, spiders and an elephant floating upside down on a cloud.

Some are not famous characters, but all can be found in a book in the library. If they look hard, children can find every letter of the alphabet represented by a character.

Horrell is best known for surreal paintings that incorporate photographs, but for the mural he created a landscape for the characters to inhabit. Look very closely and you'll see faces of different animals in a hillside. An air vent has been transformed into a monster's teeth, and a whole different world is hiding inside the door to the library's light box.

The Horrells began the mural early in August, working nights, and finished about a week ago. The polyurethane finish will protect against crayon additions.

Librarian Emily Whitfield says the 47-year-old library plans to expand through the door in the middle of the mural to add a computer room and meeting room within the next four years. The mural will be preserved.

"I can't get over how it brightens up the library," she said.

"Kids like it, but the adults really like it," adds assistant librarian Anne Brown.

Horrell's previous murals can be found in a Paducah, Ky., restaurant and in the First Midwest Bank of Chaffee.

He was at the library reading Harry Potter books to prepare for a Halloween party where he will paint children's faces.

Painting is a way of seeing the world in a new way, Horrell says.

"When you really look you understand and you see it."