Laura Krauss Melmed: Hello, my name is Laura Crause Melmed. I received my first name from my father. He named me after his very first girlfriend when he was six years old. Laura is also the name of a beautiful song that was popular around the time I was born. Crause was my last name before I got married. Now I use it as my middle name. Melmed is my husband's name, it means teacher in Hebrew. I like this because I used to be a teacher and because I hope the children will learn something from reading my book.