The imagination of a group of schoolchildren conjured a fire-breathing lion-dragon, a volcanic man, a two-headed dragon, a mechanic and pet parrot last week.

Filling the Aurora Free Library July 23, 28 children between the ages of 2 and 12 spent a couple hours writing and illustrating the third installment of “The Legend of Lionel and Lester: The Two-Headed Lake Dragon.”

“It's a wonderful thing because the kids are cooperating together,” organizer Jacci Farlow said. “They are collaborating. They are really considerate of each other.”

Now in its third year, the authors and illustrators penned Lionel and Lester's latest adventure, marked by their attempts to visit Kalamazoo, Mich.

In this chapter, Lionel and Lester are en route to Michigan by way of Canada, and get sidetracked. They soon learn that their friends, George, the mechanic, and his pet parrot, Wrench, are in trouble, being chased by Fred, the fire-breathing lion-dragon, and Mig, the volcanic man, who has come to save the day.

The idea behind Lionel and Lester goes back more than a decade, when Farlow's own children were young. On the way to and from school, Farlow would make up light-hearted stories with her children about the dragon swiping pizza and playing with local pets.

“I thought, 'This is such a great character that it should be opened up to the community,'” she said.

To that end, Farlow, a local photographer, contacted Aurora Librarian Sandra Groth in 2006 and pitched the idea that for one day every summer for 20 years a group of children come to the library and write a chapter about Lionel and Lester.

“It sounded like a really unique opportunity, and it's a nice creative venture to undertake, especially at the library,” Groth said.

Farlow videotapes the sessions and, “in the heart of winter,” writes out the story and scans in the pictures. The chapter than gets bound into a book and is available for purchase at the library with proceeds going directly to the institution.

“It think it's a great archival record of who grew up here,” Farlow said. “I think it's going to be a wonderful thing just for them having left a mark in Aurora. It will be documented that these are the kids that lived here at this time and here's what they made up.”

After three sessions, Groth said the program continues to be a success.

“It's a nice way to spend the afternoon, and I certainly think a lot of kids look forward to it now that we have gotten it established,” she said. “It's a really unique project that Jacci has undertaken, so I really appreciate what she's doing for the library and the community.”