Lulu and the Brontosaurus

by Judith Viorst, Lane Smith (Illustrator)

Overview

Now in paperback, an illustrated chapter book from industry legends Judith Viorst and Lane Smith!

I’m gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, gonna, get
a bronto-bronto-bronto-bronto-saurus for a pet!

Lulu is so accustomed to getting what she wants that when her parents deny her birthday request for a brontosaurus, she throws a four-day temper tantrum and then storms off into the forest in search of the dinosaur she clearly deserves. Lulu isn’t particularly impressed with the snake, tiger, and bear she encounters, but then she finds him—a beautiful, long-necked, graceful brontosaurus. Mr. B completely agrees with Lulu that having a pet would be a wonderful thing, and 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 too tall to bonk on the head with her suitcase), or smushing her pickle sandwich? Beloved children’s author Judith Viorst and Caldecott-winning illustrator Lane Smith offer a fresh and funny tale with several surprise endings!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416999621
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	04/03/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.26(w) x 9.04(h) x 0.38(d)
Age Range:	6 - 10 Years

About the Author

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.

Read an Excerpt

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

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

* Pitch perfect for the beginning chapter-book crowd." —Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

"Plenty of child-friendly humor. . . . This inventive, lighthearted fantasy should be a solid hit with young readers looking for a lively first chapter book." —School Library Journal

“Quite clever” –Booklist

Editorial Reviews

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. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

* "Pitch perfect for the beginning chapter-book crowd." —Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW

"Plenty of child-friendly humor. . . . This inventive, lighthearted fantasy should be a solid hit with young readers looking for a lively first chapter book." —School Library Journal

“Quite clever” –Booklist

From the Publisher

Whatever Lulu wants, Lulu gets ... but will she get what she wants this time? Until now, she has always succeeded in obtaining what she wants from her parents by throwing tantrums. This time, she wants a pet brontosaurus for her birthday. Despite her screeching and kicking, her parents have drawn the line: No pet brontosaurus! So, Lulu decides to head into the forest and get a brontosaurus on her own. She has quite an adventure as she meets a snake, a tiger, and a bear before finding her brontosaurus; the animals don't realize they are up against Lulu. Throughout the story, the author's hilarious anecdotes that remind readers that she selects the way she wants to tell the story. Here, she even gives three different endings. Smith's pencil-and-textured rubbing illustrations show amusing, comical expressions on the faces of the characters. Younger children will enjoy hearing the story read aloud. Beginning readers will find the story to be light and funny. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung

Children's Literature - Carrie Hane Hung

Gr 1–4—Viorst and Smith introduce a spoiled young lady who wants a brontosaurus for her birthday. With her lightbulb-shattering screeches, Lulu is used to getting her way, but her parents refuse this request. After four days of screaming, she tells her parents, "foo on you," packs a small suitcase, and sets off into the forest. After getting the best of a snake, tiger, and bear, she meets a brontosaurus. He, however, decides that she will be his perfect pet. While this story follows a familiar cautionary-tale story line, Lulu is both determined and surprisingly resourceful (her small suitcase contains pickle sandwiches and an astonishing amount of stuff). Viorst's narrative is appropriately arch: "since I'm the person writing this story, I get to choose what I write." There's plenty of child-friendly humor, and Smith's droll, exaggerated pencil drawings on pastel paper deftly add to the fun. The pinheaded brontosaurus is irresistible and reminiscent of Syd Hoff's beloved dinosaur from the "Danny and the Dinosaur" series (HarperCollins). This inventive, lighthearted fantasy should be a solid hit with young readers looking for a lively first chapter book.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA

School Library Journal

Viorst, better known within the children's-book world for picture books than novels, flexes her muscles and introduces readers to delightfully obnoxious, fit-throwing Lulu, a spoiled only child prone to indulging in over-the-top temper tantrums to get what she wants. And what she wants now is a brontosaurus for her birthday. Her long-suffering parents finally put their collective feet down and refuse. Lulu's antics do no good this time, so she heads into the woods to find a dinosaur herself. In short chapters interspersed with funny narrative asides and whimsical black-and-white illustrations, readers follow Lulu as she heads into the woods, faces off with some ferocious animals and finally finds the brontosaurus, who decides he'd rather have Lulu as his pet than be hers! Lulu won't survive this adventure without some serious changes in her behavior. Dinosaurs, it turns out, are fond of good manners. The glib narrator provides not one but three endings for readers to choose from. Even so, they still won't have had enough of Lulu. Pitch perfect for the beginning chapter-book crowd. (Fiction. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews