Story-O-Saurus Land - Personalized Children's Book

“Story-O-Saurus Land”

was created especially for

Adam Willett

at the age of 5

With Love From,

Mommy and Daddy

August 25, 2001

One night, Adam Willett was having trouble falling asleep. He tried lying on his back, then on his front, and then on his side; but he was not able to sleep.

In his mind, Adam even tried to count dinosaurs to make himself sleepy. He began to hope that someone would hear his restlessness and offer some help.

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Just then, his bedroom door opened a little, and Adam heard the voice of Dad. "Sounds as if you're having trouble sleeping, Adam."

"Yes, Dad, I sure am," said Adam. "Would you please tell me a story about dinosaurs?"

In answer, Dad smiled and walked to the side of his bed.

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"All right.Now, Adam, close your eyes and imagine with me," said Dad. "Once upon a time, a little boy named Adam went on a picnic with Dad, Jimmy and Bobby."

While they were preparing the picnic lunch, Adam spotted a bunny at the edge of the woods.

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Trying to get a better look at the bunny, Adam moved closer. But when the little rabbit saw Adam, the rabbit dashed into the woods.

Being curious, Adam followed. Moving from behind one tree to another, Adam tried to sneak closer. Then he saw the bunny hop into a cave.

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Adam continued his search for the tricky little rabbit, and followed it into the dark cave. There, unable to see anything, Adam said, "Where are you bunny? Please, make a noise so I can find you."

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Hearing a strange sound, Adam went further into the blackness of the cave.

All of a sudden, it was as if the floor of the cave opened, and Adam found himself sliding down something, following the equally surprised bunny.

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As they came to a stop on what he thought was a hill, Adam and the bunny looked at one another. Then they looked around at where they were. They were in the middle of a swamp!

"Wow!" said Adam. "We're certainly not in Plymouth, Michigan anymore! Where are we?"

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Suddenly, Adam and the little rabbit felt the hill move! As they stared to the side, a huge head appeared.

No, it was not a hill for sure! They were on the back of an animal! They had slid down its long neck.

To their surprise, the gigantic creature spoke, "I am Apatosaurus (ah-PAT-uh-sawr-us). You are in Story-o-saurusLand now. In your world, I am as long as two school buses and weigh as much as five elephants!"

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Adam interrupted the story. "I remember hearing about Apatosaurus. He's a plant-eater.He used to be called Brontosaurus and traveled in a herd with others grazing across the land.

"That's right, Adam," Dad said." But, let's get back to our story."

The Apatosaurus told Adam and his bunny companion to climb down his tail. "You will be able to jump off onto dryland," said the gentle giant.

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As soon as they climbed onto land, the bunny ran after something it had seen. Adam followed and found the bunny next to a strange little animal. Unlike Apatosaurus, this tiny dinosaur was actually only about the size of a chicken! It was called Compsognathus. (comp-sog-NATH-us)

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Once more, the rabbit hopped away and Adam followed. This time, Adam found the curious bunny looking down at something.

It was a dinosaur nest, filled with eggs the size of basketballs! As they stood there, they heard angry, snorting noises to their side.

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The sounds came from one of the 'horned face' dinosaurs, triceratops. (try-SAIR-uh-tops) It seemed as if the triceratops was afraid that Adam might hurt the eggs which contained the triceratops' babies.

Sensing danger, the bunny and Adam began to run.

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Adam saw a bridge ahead. He thought they could cross it to safety. But as they ran onto it, Adam saw this was not a bridge, but was the back of a stegosaurus! (steg-O-sawr-us)And thes ides were really bony plates on the dinosaur's back.

Again, Adam interrupted the story."I rememberyou telling me about those plates, and how they helped to keep stegosaurus warm when it was cold outside, and cool when it was hot outside."

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Adam and the rabbit came down from Stegosaurus' back. Being plant-eaters, triceratops and stegosaurus were no longer concerned with them. But, now the swamp trembled with a new sound.

It was the roar of the most feared dinosaur tyrannosaurus! (tye-RAN-uh-sawr-us) Adam knew that this monster was now hunting for him and the bunny.

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The fearsome, meat-eating tyrannosaurus rushed towards them! How were they to escape?

Just then, Adam and the rabbit heard the voice of Dad above, from the hole in the cave floor: "Here, Adam! I am here!"

Turning to the voice, Adam felt something grab his shirt. Quickly, he and the bunny left the ground. A pteranodon (tair-AN-oh-don), the flying reptile, lifted them out of reach of Tyrannosaurus!

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The pteranodon carried Adam and the rabbit toward the voice of Dad.There was also another sound. It was the voice of Apatosaurus again. "Bring them to me!" he said to the pteranodon. "Place them on my head!"

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The pteranodon placed Adam and the bunny on the huge head of apatosaurus. Then, with a smooth, sure movement, apatosaurus lifted them to the waiting arms of Dad.

They had escaped from Story-o-saurus Land!

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"Well Adam,what did you think of that story?" asked Dad.

"To tell the truth, Dad, I'm glad to be home. All that adventure made me tired." And it seemed that almost as soon as those words left his lips, Adam fell fast asleep, safe at home, and resting peacefully after his journey to Story-o-saurus Land.

THE END

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