Sebastian O'Connell, age 3, of San Antonio, Texas, loved to play with dinosaur toys. In his room there
were many of them: big ones, little ones, tall ones and short ones. Greg,
Bobby, Grandma, and Grandpa
knew how much he loved dinosaurs.
One day, Sebastian 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. Sebastian 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 Sebastian was in the tropical forest with the dinosaurs.
"Wow, the dinosaurs eat so much! I'm afraid they will eat me," Sebastian said, trembling.
"Are you as sweet as this palm tree?" someone asked in a friendly voice.
"Who said that?" Sebastian wondered.
"I am a brontosaurus called Thunderfoot," replied the long-necked lizard.
"Do you eat children?" Sebastian asked. Thunderfoot lowered her long neck and examined
Sebastian 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 Sebastian heard a much louder noise. The mountain was exploding! Fire and melted
rock poured out of the volcano.
"Wake up, everyone! Wake up! Sebastian 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 Sebastian," the dinosaurs chanted.
The dinosaurs were so thankful they decided to have a party to honor Sebastian. During the
party, they danced and thumped their tails until the ground shook.
"What a wonderful celebration!" Sebastian said. "I wish Greg, Bobby, Grandma,
and Grandpa" could join the fun."
Just then, Sebastian noticed a change in the brightly colored spotted egg in the nest by
the lagoon.
"Look over there!" called Sebastian. "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.
Sebastian answered, "I would love to stay with you, but I can't. I must return to my home
in San Antonio, Texas. Greg, Bobby, Grandma, and Grandpa will be worried."
Sebastian 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.
Sebastian O'Connell
Enjoy this book.
A special gift from Grandma & Grandpa