Caleb Young, age 4, of Newark, NJ, loved to play with dinosaur toys. In his room there were many of them: big ones, little ones, tall ones and short ones. Peter and Matt knew how much he loved dinosaurs.

One day, Caleb was looking at pictures in his favorite dinosaur book. A fierce tyrannosaurus rex with big, sharp teeth was wrestling another meat-eating dinosaur, called an allosaurus. A pterodactyl, a huge flying lizard with wings, was flying in the air watching the battle. Caleb concentrated hard on the pictures.

The dinosaurs seemed to come alive. A lizard with a long neck, fat body and a huge tail stood beside a beautiful lagoon. A brightly colored spotted egg lay in a cozy nest near a friendly looking beast. In the distance, a duckbill dinosaur, called a trachodon, walked on two legs chewing giant ferns.

Suddenly Caleb was in the tropical forest with the dinosaurs.
"Wow, the dinosaurs eat so much! I'm afraid they will eat me," Caleb said, trembling.
"Are you as sweet as this palm tree?" someone asked in a friendly voice.
"Who said that?" Caleb wondered.
"I am a brontosaurus called Thunderfoot," replied the long-necked lizard.

"Do you eat children?" Caleb asked. Thunderfoot lowered her long neck and examined Caleb carefully.
"You don't look very tasty," Thunderfoot decided. "And I only eat plants. Anyway, it's time to go to sleep at the top of the mountain."
The giant creature gently covered her egg and joined the other dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs snored very loudly as they slept.
Suddenly Caleb heard a much louder noise. The mountain was exploding! Fire and melted rock poured out of the volcano.
"Wake up, everyone! Wake up! Caleb shouted. "Oh, please, we must hurry away from here and get to the water." The dinosaurs loudly lumbered to the safe lagoon.

"We are all safe, thanks to Caleb," the dinosaurs chanted.
The dinosaurs were so thankful they decided to have a party to honor Caleb. During the party, they danced and thumped their tails until the ground shook.
"What a wonderful celebration!" Caleb said. "I wish Peter and Matt" could join the fun."

Just then, Caleb noticed a change in the brightly colored spotted egg in the nest by the lagoon.
"Look over there!" called Caleb. "Thunderfoot's egg is hatching!"
Snap! A little head poked through the top of the shell. The sides broke away and out stumbled a baby dinosaur with a long neck, fat body and big lizard tail.

A pterodactyl neighbor flew close to visit the baby dinosaur. Thunderfoot and her baby walked toward the beautiful lagoon. Other dinosaurs returned to the tropical rain forest.
"Please stay with us forever," pleaded the dinosaurs.
Caleb answered, "I would love to stay with you, but I can't. I must return to my home in Newark, NJ. Peter and Matt will be worried."

Caleb closed his eyes and waved farewell to the dinosaurs. When he opened his eyes, the picture in the dinosaur book had changed. The brightly colored spotted egg was no longer in the cozy nest by the lagoon. Now, a brand-new baby dinosaur stood nose to nose with its proud mother, Thunderfoot.

Caleb Young

Enjoy this book.
A special gift from Dad