Janell Cannon was the type of kid who was always coming home with a new pet. Although, we?re not talking about your standard kitten in a shoebox or errant neighborhood mutt. Janell has always had a soft spot in her heart for animals most people might find, well, kind of gross. In fact, her childhood backyard in Minnesota sounds like it was literally teeming with all sorts of creepy-crawlies for Janell and her siblings to bring inside to their mother. "Crayfish, frogs, turtles, snakes, salamanders-- we always found them to be so beautiful and people kept telling us they were awful," Janell remembered during a visit to Teaching K-8?s editorial office this past October. Now, as a hugely successful author and illustrator, Janell Cannon just can?t seem to keep herself from bringing unloved and sometimes misunderstood animal friends to our doorsteps. With her latest offering for children, Pinduli (Harcourt, 2004), Janell has shed new light on yet another oft-maligned creature--the hyena.