Lulu and the Brontosaurus

Lulu wants a brontosaurs, She discovers many other important details. ( )

This had everyone in the house laughing out loud. Lane Smith's illustrations are a post-modern homage to My Father's Dragon . . . totally fitting in this turned-on-its-head cautionary tale. And Judith Viorst, who I have sometimes found a bit too Afterschool Special for me, nails this sassy story. ( )

This is a good transitional book for those leaving readers and moving into chapter books. ( )

Cute. Takes a picture book premise and extends it, with the writer often talking directly to audience. Multiple endings. ( )

I am jointly reviewing this book with my 11 year old daughter Isabelle. We got it both in hardcover form and on audio CD. The book itself was very attractive with black, off-white, and green illustrations. Some of them span two pages, allowing the reader a little break from the actual words as the images take over to forward the story. For some inexplicable reason, the pictures reminded me of the Beetlejuice movie with Michael Keaton (!). The drawings are soothing, not a distraction at all to the story but instead a seamless part of it. I also liked that Lulu's Mom was drawn as much taller than Dad in the picture…not something you see all the time.
I liked the way some of the print was in bold, and some was in italics, and the pages have lots of white space. There was some ornate script that was a little tough to decipher at times. For example, at the beginning of one chapter (the first Chapter 13, as it happens!) Izzy and I had some discussion about what the first letter was. She thought it was an “H” and I thought it was an “A” but after using context and both of our brains we figured out that it was actually the word “It”.
The author uses rhyming (“ She mainly wasn’t a pain“) and repetition to tell the story of Lulu and her quest for the brontosaurus that she wants but that her parents do not. The day before her birthday she leaves to hunt for one herself. Along the way, she meets a snake, a bear, a tiger. She eventually does in fact find a brontosaurus, who proceeds to teach her (among other things) some manners. There is a refrain that Lulu sings (like a Greek chorus of one) throughout the book that Izzy especially liked. It helped to have the audio book in this case because it gave a tune for the words that really brought it and Lulu to life.
Isabelle liked the way the chapters were titled: “Maybe the end” and “Chapter 13 again”. She also liked that the chapters weren’t too long. We both really enjoyed this book. Izzy's final evaluation was this: “I don’t think she (Judith Viorst) could have added any more or taken any more out.” Really, what better praise could you have than this? ( )