“My Dinosaur
Adventure”
Words in red are the personalized words
This book was
created
especially for
Dax Trevor
Curtis
at the age of
9
With Love
From,
Aunt Peggy
& Uncle Bill
December 25, 2001
Page 4
Dax Trevor Curtis of Enid, Oklahoma 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 7
To
his surprise, the unicorn spoke, "Dax, I
want to take you to the Land of the Dinosaurs. Can you come with me?"
Dax
said, "Wow! I would love to go, but first I must ask permission and leave
a note for Seth, Andrew
and Sam." Moments later, the unicorn whisked him back in time to
the Land of the Dinosaurs.
Page 8
When
Dax 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 Dax.
"I
don't have one," answered the plant-eating dinosaur sadly. "No one
has ever named any of us."
Dax
thought for a while and then said, "I will call you Stretch."
Page 11
"Look
at that mountain over there!" shouted Dax,
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."
Dax
added, "It's also very hot!"
Page 12
While
exploring, they met a stegosaurus (steg-uh-SORE-us). "He sure does have a
lot of sharp points on his back," whispered Dax.
"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."
Dax
told the stegosaurus, "A great name for you would be Spike."
Page 15
Next,
Dax and the unicorn entered a dense, humid
forest where they found giant ferns and many reptiles of all sizes and shapes.
While there, they heard a strange, snapping sound in the distance and
cautiously crept closer to investigate. After all, Dax
had wanted to come here to learn as much as he
could about dinosaurs!
Page 16
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 that noise," said Dax. "I shall name you Alli."
Alli
said, "Thank you," as she handed Dax a
branch of flowers.
Page 19
Dax
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 Dax.
"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 Dax.
"I
love it!" smiled the wide-eyed unicorn with a big grin. "Thank
you!"
Page 20
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
you will want to see." Dax and Ariel chased
after him.
"Wow!
He is as fast as lightning. That's a great name for him," shouted Dax as he ran.
Page 23
They
ran and ran until they came to some rugged, rocky cliffs. Lightning showed Dax a nest along the top of one of the cliffs and
directed him to get a close look. The nest contained three baby pterodactyls
(ter-uh-DAK-tuls).
"Who
is supposed to be taking care of these babies?" asked Dax.
Page 24
"I
am!" echoed a voice, circling above them. Just then a large pterodactyl
glided past them. Dax found it hard to believe
that a lizard could fly. Its wing span was about as long as his arm. Dax 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 Dax could not hear
what they were saying.
Page 27
Dax,
Ariel and the pterodactyl flew back across the Land of the Dinosaurs until they
once more reached the beautiful lake. This time Dax
saw a lot of activity at the water's edge. Dinosaurs were decorating the beach
with streamers and balloons. Dax wanted to help
decorate and wondered if he could go to the party.
Page 28
As
they landed, a pentaceratops (pen-tuh-SARE-uh-tops) rushed to greet them. Dax 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 31
The
dinosaurs were gathered around a large two-tiered cake. "What a beautiful
cake!" exclaimed Dax.
"It's
for you!" shouted his new friends. Now Dax
knew what Ariel had whispered to Dack. The dinosaurs realized that Dax had to return soon and had wanted to help him
remember his first visit to the Land of the Dinosaurs.
Page 32
After
the party, Alli, the allosaurus, told Dax that
it was time to leave for Enid, Oklahoma. Dax was a bit sad, but could hardly wait to tell Seth, Andrew and Sam about his exciting adventures.
Before he left, they all thanked Dax for the nice names he
had given them.
Page 35
Ariel
flew Dax home and said, "I also have a
surprise for you, Dax." In his room, he found a
dinosaur cake with a personalized card signed by all the dinosaurs. Dax 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 36
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, Dax?