Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst, Illustrated by Lane Smith (2010)

I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, gonna get
A bronto-bronto-bronto
Brontosaurus for a pet.
I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m gonna, gonna get
A bronto-bronto-bronto
Brontosaurus for a pet (p 21).

Lulu is a little girl who doesn’t like to be told, “No.” So she kicks and screams until she gets her way. When she demands a brontosaurus for her birthday, her parents say no and hold firm. Lulu decides to get a brontosaurus of her own and sets of for the forest.

Along the way, she encounters pesky bugs (which she kills with spray), a tiger (which she bonks), and a bear (which she stomps). Then, finally, she meets a brontosaurus. Only he doesn’t want to be Lulu’s pet. Instead he makes her his pet in this cautionary tale.

Lulu is not happy with this reversal of fortune, but the patient brontosaurus insists she will be well looked after as his pet. Lulu realizes her only option is to run away.

Viorst has some fun with the text here, often addressing the reader directly and taking artistic license because it is her story, after all. Lane Smith’s illustrations are adorable.

Read alikes: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Jim Who Ran Away from his Nurse and was Eaten by a Lion

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