Lulu and the Brontosaurus
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
It's Lulu's birthday and she's decided she'd like a pet brontosaurus as a present. But when Lulu's parents tell her that's not possible, Lulu gets veryupset. She does not like it when things don't go her way. So taking matters into her own hands Lulu 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 finally got her birthday wish. Until she realises that Mr Brontosaurus thinks that shewould 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 too tall to bonk on the head with her suitcase), or smushing her sandwich?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
While no one can question Viorst and Smith s street cred, they ve turned in a curiously unaffecting chapter book. Lulu, a Louise Brooks look-alike, was a pain a very big pain in the butt. Given to screech till the lightbulbs burst when she doesn t get her way, Lulu quickly wears down parental resistance to her whims. But when Lulu tries to turn a brontosaurus into a birthday pet, she discovers that there may be a creature who s more willful (and far better mannered about it) than she is. Will Lulu spend the rest of her life as the dinosaur s pet? Will this encounter turn her into a kinder, gentler kid? The plot and characters barely seems to matter or act only as setups for Viorst s irreverent, metafictional nudges. Is that where a brontosaurus would live? In a forest? I m afraid that I m not absolutely sure. But since I m the person writing this story, I m putting this brontosaurus in a forest. It s an approach that s made Smith and Jon Scieszka deservedly famous, but here despite the fun to be had in seeing Lulu finally meet her match it feels self-indulgent. Smith s angular pencil illustrations bubble with arch humor, but it s not enough to rescue this effort. Ages 6 10.
