This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2016 by Stacy McAnulty
Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2016 by Mike Boldt
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McAnulty, Stacy, author. | Boldt, Mike, illustrator.
Title: It’s not a dinosaur! / by Stacy McAnulty ; illustrated by Mike Boldt.
Other titles: It is not a dinosaur
Description: New York : Random House, [2016] | Series: Dino files ; #3 | Summary: When photographs of Peanut the dinosaur appear on the Web, Frank’s father arrives in Wyoming with a story about the prehistoric reptile he saw nearby twenty years earlier.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015037986 | ISBN 978-0-553-52197-9 (hardback) | ISBN 978-0-553-52198-6 (hardcover library binding) | ISBN 978-0-553-52199-3 (ebook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Prehistoric animals—Fiction. | Dinosaurs—Fiction. | Animals—Infancy—Fiction. | Cousins—Fiction. | Paleontology—Fiction.
BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Animals / Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories.
Classification: LCC PZ7.M47825255 Its 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
Ebook ISBN 9780553521993
This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1: Not Very Popular
Chapter 2: I Know That Voice
Chapter 3: An Eel with Four Legs
Chapter 4: Not in the Backyard
Chapter 5: Sightings Are Not Guaranteed
Chapter 6: The Monster Catcher
Chapter 7: A Seasick Peanut?
Chapter 8: Fishing for the Notho
Chapter 9: Not a Lucky Day
Chapter 10: Doesn’t Like Grown-Ups
Chapter 11: Bring Out the Dinosaur
Chapter 12: First Time for Everything
Chapter 13: Goldie
Chapter 14: Riding a Dino
Chapter 15: Do Not Feed the Nothosaurus
Glossary
About the Author
About the Illustrator
For my McParents, Bob and Fran
If I were president, I would make this a law. You’re not allowed to take pictures of someone’s dinosaur without asking.
Two days ago, a camera repair guy took pictures of my baby dinosaur. He put them on the Internet. I’ve been trying to keep Peanut a secret for weeks. Now that’s over.
“What are we going to do?” I ask Gram. And not for the first time.
“Frank, relax,” she says. Also, not for the first time.
“Only one thousand people have seen the pictures,” my cousin Samantha says. “You’re not an Internet star until you have a million views.” Sam picks up Peanut and kisses his horn. “Sorry, buddy. You’re not very popular.”
“Not yet!” I yell. “The pictures have only been up for two days.”
“Maybe this will all just settle down,” PopPop says. “No need to get upset.”
I let out a loud puff of air. No one is taking this seriously. Except the Starks. Mr. and Mrs. Stark, their daughter, and their Velociraptor were staying with us. My grandparents’ house used to be a safe place for secret dinosaurs and people who love them. But the Starks packed up their RV and left yesterday. That’s what Peanut and I should be doing.
“Frank, Peanut will be fine,” Gram says. “He may no longer be a secret, but he is still safe here at DECoW.”
My grandparents own the Dinosaur Education Center of Wyoming. We call it DECoW. It’s the perfect place to raise a dinosaur. They have lots of land, and so do their neighbors. This is a good thing because Peanut is going to be huge. We know this because of fossils we found. Someday he will make elephants look small.
I believe Gram. But just in case, I go to my room and pack a bag for me, Peanut, and my cat, Saurus. I’m ready if we need to make a quick getaway.
The next morning, DECoW is the same old DECoW. Only seven cars are parked in the lot near the museum where we keep all the fossils. I was worried that there would be a million.
I stand by the living room window, watching.
“Frank, eat,” Gram says. She has made waffles for Sam and me. Peanut gets a leaf mixture. We call it Peanut salad. Saurus gets a can of cat food.
“Can I have his waffles?” Sam asks.
“No,” I say, because Gram makes the best waffles.
“I want you kids to stay close to the house today,” Gram says. “And keep Peanut inside.”
“Why?” I ask. My stomach gets nervous and squishy.
“No reason,” Gram answers. I don’t believe her.
“Peanut’s pictures have over ten thousand likes,” Sam says. Then she shoves another huge piece of waffle in her mouth.
“That’s it. I’m leaving.” I drop my fork and grab my dinosaur. “Can you make me a sandwich for the road?”
“Frank, please.” Gram shakes her head. “We will figure this out.”
“It’s not like someone is going to take him away from us,” Sam says. “Right?”
“Of course not.” Gram turns to a sink full of dishes. “No one is going to come to the door and take our dinosaur.”
Just then, there’s a knock on the front door.
“Hide!” I scream. Peanut and I dive under the kitchen table.
The door slowly opens before Gram can get to it. I shake in my slippers.
“Hello,” a voice calls out. “Anyone home?”
I know that voice.
“Dad!” I crawl out from under the table.
My dad stands in the living room. I run into his arms, and he hugs me tight. He smells like the green soap we use at home.
“What are you doing here?” I ask. Mom, Dad, Saurus, and I live in North Carolina. That’s where I go to school. I just spend the summers in Wyoming. North Carolina is at least two long plane rides away.
“I’m here about a dinosaur.” Dad holds a blurry picture of Peanut. “Anyone want to explain?”
“I will,” Sam says. “Have a seat, Uncle Brian. This is a long story.” She pulls her plastic microphone from her pocket. She carries it everywhere. She also talks to an invisible TV camera a lot. She thinks she’ll be famous someday.
Peanut wanders into the living room. He brushes against Dad’s leg. Then he jumps into an empty chair near the window.
“Was that…?” Dad can’t finish his thought.
“Yes.” Gram gives him a hug. “Sam is right. You’re going to want to sit.”
Dad plops down on the couch. Saurus leaps onto his lap, and Dad scratches her chin. Saurus purrs like a motor.
“So here’s the story.” Sam explains how Gram found the egg fossil a few weeks ago. And how Saurus and I sat on it. And how Peanut hatched. And h
ow Sam and I tried to keep him a secret. And how Aaron from next door dino-napped Peanut. And how Peanut got sick on cookies and candy and had to go to the vet.
“Wow,” Dad says. “You should write a book about all of this.”
I smile and say, “I am.”
“We’re going to build Peanut a home,” Sam says. “A big one. The Crabtrees from next door are going to help too.”
“Why didn’t you tell your mom and me about Peanut?” Dad asks.
“I didn’t want to tell you over the phone,” I say. “He was a secret.”
“And spies could be listening to our phone calls,” Sam says. Her eyes grow really big.
I planned to tell Mom and Dad when they came to pick me up at the end of summer. Dad is just a lot early. I haven’t even had enough time to work on my begging. Can I please, please, please live at DECoW with Peanut?
“How did you hear about Peanut?” Gram asks.
“A friend of mine emailed me the picture. I got on the next plane.” Dad hands me Saurus. “I had to see with my own eyes.”
Dad tiptoes toward Peanut, who is sleeping on the chair. He bends down to get a closer look.
“What is he?” Dad pushes his glasses up.
“Nothing we’ve ever seen,” Gram says. “The kids call him a Wyomingasaurus.”
My dad is a paleontologist too. He works at a college and teaches classes about prehistoric plants.
“Fascinating.” Dad’s nose is almost touching Peanut’s horn.
Suddenly, Peanut wakes up. He jumps and crashes into Dad’s face. Dad’s glasses fall to the floor.
“Ow.” Dad rubs his nose.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“Is Peanut okay?” Sam asks.
Peanut runs out of the room and up the stairs.
“I’m fine,” Dad says. “That little dinosaur is fast. I hope you keep a good eye on him.”
“We try,” Sam says.
For dinner, PopPop grills chicken. Peanut doesn’t have any because he’s an herbivore. He eats a whole head of cabbage and a bag of carrots.
“He has a good appetite,” Dad says. “How big is he?”
“Eighteen pounds,” I say. “He’s doubled his weight from when he hatched.” Gram measures him every morning. We keep track of what he eats, his size, and other important stuff. It’s what good scientists do.
“I used to dream of having my own dinosaur when I was a boy,” Dad says.
PopPop laughs. “It’s all you ever asked for. Every birthday. Every holiday.”
Dad looks down at his plate and shakes his head. “But you always said no.”
PopPop and Gram glance at each other super quick. Sam wrinkles her forehead. She’s confused like me.
“That’s because dinosaurs are extinct,” Sam says. “Or at least we thought they were.”
“Yes,” Gram says. “And we let you have that snake. What was his name?”
“Teddy Rex,” Dad mumbles. “But a snake is not the same as a dinosaur.”
I give Dad a hug. “Not the same at all.”
A shaking wakes me up in the middle of the night. At first I think it’s Peanut jumping on the bed. He does that sometimes.
“Frank, wake up.” It’s my dad. He’s shaking me by the shoulders.
“I’m awake. I’m awake. What’s wrong?” I ask. My pets are awake too. Peanut stands on me. Saurus stretches by my feet.
“I need to tell you something.” Dad sits on the edge of my bed. It’s getting very crowded.
“What?”
“Or maybe I’ll show you.” Dad goes to the desk. It used to be his when he was a boy. The whole room used to be his. He pulls out the top drawer and flips it over. Pens and pencils fall to the floor. Peanut jumps up to see if there is anything good to eat.
A piece of paper is taped to the bottom of the drawer.
“Here.” He unfolds it and hands it to me.
On the paper is a drawing. It looks like an eel but with four small legs. Written in the bottom corner is Dad’s real name (Brian) and one word.
“Nothosaurus,” I read.
“Yes!” Dad says. “That’s the creature I found when I was a boy.” He taps the paper.
“Really?” I ask.
“No way,” Sam says. She walks into my room without knocking and takes the picture. “Is this the dinosaur you always wanted, Uncle Brian?”
“It’s not a dinosaur,” I say. “The Nothosaurus is a prehistoric reptile that lived in water.”
Sam rolls her eyes. “Aren’t dinosaurs pre-historic reptiles?”
“Yes, but not all prehistoric reptiles are dinosaurs,” I say. “Just like cats are mammals. But that doesn’t mean all mammals are cats. You’re a mammal, and you’re not a cat.”
“It’s basically a dinosaur,” Sam shoots back. I need to start a dinosaur school for her and other confused people.
“Do you want to hear my story?” Dad asks.
“Yes!” Sam and I both answer. We sit on my bed. Peanut curls up in her lap and Saurus in mine.
“I was twelve,” Dad starts. “And I was canoeing on the river with three boys from Scouts. We stopped to take a bathroom break.”
“There are rest stops on the river?” Sam asks.
“Boys don’t need an actual bathroom,” I answer.
“Gross.” She sticks out her tongue.
“I finished my business and got back first,” Dad continues. “And there it was. A Nothosaurus. Sunning itself right next to our canoe.”
“Did it attack you?” Sam asks.
“No. It just stared at me. The Notho was longer than our boat. It had purple-gray skin. No scales. And large black eyes.” Dad scratches his beard. “What a sight. It wasn’t afraid at all. At least not until the other boys came out of the woods. They were laughing and joking and being pretty loud.”
“Did the Nothosaurus attack them?” Sam asks excitedly.
“No, Sam. It dove back into the river before the boys got a good look. One of them—a kid named Bart Matthews—saw part of the tail. He started screaming that it was a river monster. I tried to explain that it was a Nothosaurus. He didn’t believe me. No one did.”
“Not even Gram and PopPop?” I ask.
“I told them about it when I got home. They wanted to believe me,” Dad says. “We went back to the river dozens of times. I never saw it again. As I grew older, I worried that I imagined the Notho.”
“You didn’t imagine it, Uncle Brian. If Peanut is real, I bet your river dinosaur is real too,” Sam says.
“That’s what I was thinking.” Dad smiles.
“What about Bart Matthews?” I ask. “Did people believe him?”
“Bart always claimed it was a river monster. He drew a two-headed beast and told everyone in school that’s what we found. So I drew my own picture. I didn’t want to forget.” Dad takes his paper back.
“Wait!” A thought hits my brain. “Is Bart the guy from the TV? Bart’s River Monster Tours?”
“I’ve seen his commercials!” Sam yells. “My mom says he’s crazy.”
“That’s him,” Dad says.
“He’s a friend of yours?” I ask.
“We aren’t exactly friends,” Dad explains. “I haven’t seen the guy in twenty years. But tomorrow I think we should visit him.”
Dad has perfect timing. When the sun comes up, a news van comes with it. PopPop talks to the reporters. They’ve come to see the dinosaur from the Internet. It won’t be long before the whole world is at DECoW.
“I’ll get the tent out of the garage,” Gram says. “Frank, can you get three sleeping bags?”
“Wait, we’re camping?” I ask.
“You love camping,” Dad says.
“I like camping in the backyard,” I correct him. In the backyard, you can still go inside for a snack or to use the toilet.
“It’ll be great,” Dad says. “I used to do this all the time as a kid.”
“In the backyard,” PopPop adds.
“Don’t
worry, boys.” Sam stuffs a backpack full of gear. “I auditioned once for a TV show that takes place in the woods of California.”
“Did you get the part?” I ask.
“No, but I did practice a lot,” she says.
“Where?” I ask.
She shrugs. “In the backyard.”
We each get a backpack. Gram gives us supplies like rope and a pot. PopPop fills a bag with food and water bottles.
“We also need this stuff,” Dad says. He has a list longer than Peanut.
“How long are we going for?” I ask.
“Two months,” Sam says. “Then we don’t have to go back to school!”
“Just three days,” Gram says. “That should be enough time for PopPop and me to get things settled here.”
“And that will give us time to find the Nothosaurus,” Dad says.
“Brian,” PopPop says, “we always believed you saw something in the river. But I’ll admit, I never thought it was a Nothosaurus. Not until I met Peanut. We should have tried harder to help you find it.”
“We’ll find the Notho now,” Dad says. “Right, kids? Are we ready?”
“I want to use the indoor bathroom one more time,” Sam says.
“Me too,” I add.
Aaron Crabtree waits for us outside. He lives next door and helps us take care of Peanut sometimes. He doesn’t have any gear.
“Aren’t you coming?” I ask. Sam called him this morning to tell him about our trip.
“I can’t. I’ve got the junior fishing tournament. I’ve won it three years in a row. I have to defend my crown,” Aaron says.
“Do you really get a crown?” Sam asks.
“No, a trophy.” Aaron picks up Peanut and hugs him. “I just wanted to say goodbye. And good luck.”
“Thanks,” I say.
It's Not a Dinosaur! Page 1
