Lulu and the Brontosaurus

by Viorst, Judith; Smith, Lane

• ISBN13: 9781416999621
• ISBN10: 1416999620
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-03
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Summary

It's Lulu's birthday and she's decided she'd like a pet brontosaurus as a present. When Lulu's parents tell her that's not possible, Lulu gets very upset. She does not like it when things don't go her way. So she takes matters into her own hands and storms off into the forest to find herself a new pet, all the way singing: I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, gonna, get a bronto-bronto-bronto-bronto-saurus for a pet! In the forest Lulu encounters a number of animals; a snake, a tiger, a bear, all of whom don't particularly impress her. And then she finds him...a beautiful, long-necked, gentle, graceful brontosaurus. And he completely agrees with Lulu that having a pet would be a wonderful thing, indeed! Lulu thinks she's gotten her birthday wish at last. Until she realizes that Mr. Brontosaurus thinks that she would make an ideal pet for him! How will Lulu ever get out of this sticky situation without throwing a fit (Mr. B does not respond well to those), or using force (Mr. B is much to tall to bonk on the head with her suitcase), or smushing her pickle sandwich?

Author Biography

Judith Viorst is the author of many books for children, including the classic Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and its sequels. She lives with her husband, Milton, in Washington, D.C.

Lane Smith is the Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales. He also wrote and illustrated Madam President, John, Paul, George & Ben, and It’s a Book, which were all New York Times bestsellers. He lives with book designer Molly Leach in rural Connecticut and can be visited at LaneSmithBooks.com.

Excerpts

There once was a girl named Lulu, and she was a pain. She wasn’t a pain in the elbow. She wasn’t a pain in the knee. She was a pain—a very big pain—in the butt.

Now, Lulu was an only child, and her mom and her dad gave her everything she wanted. And guess what? Lulu wanted EVERYTHING. Tons of candy. Tons of toys. Tons of watching tons of cartoons on TV. And if her mom and her dad ever said (and they hardly ever said it), “Sorry, darling, we think you’ve had enough,” Lulu would screech till the lightbulbs burst and throw herself down on the floor, and then she would kick her heels and wave her arms. And pretty soon her mom and her dad would say, “Well, just this once,” and let her have whatever it was she wanted.

© 2010 Judith Viorst