Answer: Star illustrators. Namely Cincinnatian C.F. Payne.

Witness Spoonfuls of Stories, a series of special boxes that give away a free kids' book with every purchase. The book's cover stares out through a cutout on the box's front.

One of the books offered - there are six - is John Lithgow's Micawber, illustrated by Payne. The book's about a smiling squirrel who uses the tip of his tail as a paintbrush. There are 19 Payne illustrations in the book.

"I wish I knew what it was all about," Payne said. "I didn't even know. I was standing in line at Kroger's and all of a sudden I saw it on a Cheerios box. I later got an e-mail from a Cheerios rep inviting me to California to do a signing, but I had to decline."

In other Payne news, that's also his work that has been on bookshelves since September. It's on the cover of the 25th anniversary edition of Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery, the Deborah and James Howe classic - and very funny - story of a vampire rabbit.