was created especially for

Michael Jeremy Smith

at the age of 8

with love from

Mom and Dad

December 25, 2002

Page 3

Mike Smith of Fort Wayne had

a special dream. His favorite

books to read from the library were

always those about dinosaurs, but

he wanted to learn a lot more

about them. As he was thinking

about this, a beautiful white

unicorn appeared at his bedroom window.

Page 4

To his surprise, the unicorn

spoke, "Mike, I want to take you

to the Land of the Dinosaurs. Can

you come with me?"

Mike said, "Wow! I would love

to go, but first I must ask

permission and leave a note for

Larry, Wayne and Bob." Moments

later, the unicorn whisked him

back in time to the Land of the Dinosaurs.

Page 7

When Mike and the unicorn

arrived at the shore of the

beautiful lake, an apotosaurus

(uh-pat-o-SORE-us) greeted them.

He was longer than a big school bus.

"What's your name?" asked Mike.

"I don't have one," answered

the plant-eating dinosaur sadly.

"No one has ever named any of us."

Mike thought for a while and

then said, "I will call you Stretch."

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"Look at that mountain over

there!" shouted Mike, pointing off

into the distance. "Is it on fire?" he asked.

"Oh no, that's just a volcano,"

replied the unicorn. "Look all

around you. The Land of the

Dinosaurs is filled with many, many

volcanoes, swamps, and fern jungles."

Mike added, "It's also very hot!"

Page 11

While exploring, they met a

stegosaurus (steg-uh-SORE-us).

"He has a lot of sharp points on

his back," whispered Mike.

"Those are called plates," said

the unicorn. "A stegosaurus uses

them for protection. They also trap

heat from the sun to help keep them warm."

Mike told the stegosaurus, "A

great name for you would be Spike."

Page 12

Next, Mike and the unicorn

entered a dense, humid forest,

where they found giant ferns and

many reptiles of all sizes and

shapes. While they were there,

they heard a strange, snapping

sound in the distance and

cautiously crept closer to

investigate. After all, Mike had

wanted to come here to learn as

much as he could about dinosaurs!

Page 15

Not far away, they met an

allosaurus (al-us-SORE-us). She

had large teeth and stood on

powerful, hind legs. A huge tail

helped her to stand up.

"So you are the one who is

making all of that noise," said

Mike. "I shall name you Alli."

Alli said, "Thank you," as she

handed Mike a branch of flowers.

Page 16

Mike was having so much fun

in the Land of the Dinosaurs that

he had not noticed that his friend

the unicorn was crying. "Why are

you crying?" asked Mike.

"You have given names to

everyone today except me,"

sighed the unicorn.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Ariel would be

the perfect name for you," said Mike.

"I love it!" said the wide-eyed

unicorn with a big grin. "Thank you!"

Page 19

As they were talking, a tiny

compsognathus (komp-sog-NAY-thus),

about the size of a cat, raced past them

and said, "You must follow me. There is

something that you will want to see."

Mike and Ariel chased after him.

"Wow! He is as fast as lightning.

That's a great name for him," shouted

Mike as he ran.

Page 20

They ran and ran until they

came to some rugged, rocky cliffs.

Lightning showed Mike a nest

along the top of one of the cliffs

and directed him to get a closer

look. The nest contained three

baby pterodactyls (ter-uh-DAK-tuls).

"Who is supposed to be taking

care of these babies?" asked Mike.

Page 23

"I am!" echoed a voice circling

above them. Just then, a large

pterodactyl glided past them. Mike

found it hard to believe that a

lizard could fly. Its wing span was

about as long as his arm. Mike

decided that Dack would be a fine

name for a flying lizard. The father

pterodactyl glided down to the

nest. Ariel was quietly talking to

Dack, but Mike could not hear

what they were saying.

Page 24

Mike, Ariel, and the pterodactyl

flew back across the Land of the

Dinosaurs until they reached the

beautiful lake again. This time

Mike saw a lot of activity at the

water's edge. Dinosaurs were

decorating the beach with

streamers and balloons. Mike

wanted to help decorate and

wondered if he could go to the party.

Page 27

As they landed, a pentaceratops

(pen-tuh-SARE-uh-tops) rushed to

greet them. Mike quickly counted

the five horns on his head and

decided to call him Penti. Then, he

asked if he could help them decorate.

"I want you to come with me, but

for a different reason," replied Penti.

"We have a surprise for you!"

Page 28

The dinosaurs were gathered

around a large two-tiered cake.

"What a beautiful cake!"

exclaimed Mike.

"It's for you!" shouted his new

friends. Now Mike knew what

Ariel had whispered to Dack. The

dinosaurs had realized that Mike

had to return soon and had

wanted to help him remember his

first visit to the Land of the Dinosaurs.

Page 31

After the party, Alli, the

allosaurus, told Mike that it was

time to leave for Fort Wayne.

Mike was a bit sad, but he could

hardly wait to tell Larry, Wayne

and Bob about his exciting

adventures. Before he left, they

all thanked Mike for the nice

names that he had given them.

Page 32

Ariel flew Mike home and said,

"I also have a surprise for you,

Mike." In his room, he found a

dinosaur cake with a personalized

card signed by all of the dinosaurs.

Mike hugged Ariel for making his

secret dream come true and told

her how much he had enjoyed his

trip to the Land of the Dinosaurs.

"I will never forget what you have

done for me! Thank you for my

fabulous dinosaur adventure."

Page 35

Here are the pronunciations for the

dinosaurs you have read about in MY

DINOSAUR ADVENTURE. Use your

book to spell them correctly.

(uh - pat - o - SORE - us)

(steg-uh-SORE-us)

(al-uh-SORE-us)

(komp-sog-NAY-thus)

(ter-uh-DAK-tuls)

(pen-tuh-SARE-uh-tops)

What other dinosaurs can you name, Mike?

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