A decent enough kids story about attempts to save an inherited dirt farm with the help of a neighbourly talking dinosaur. Not the most cheerful thing in the world and the last part is a bit sudden and flat. Then again i was never the biggest fan of the Hulk tv series or Littlest Hobo. ( )

I've written dozens of book reviews, but this is one of those times where it has taken me a good, long while to be ready to write about one. This is one of my favorite books of all time, and as with many of my favorite books, I have a hard time expressing why I love them so much. But, for whatever reason, today I was inspired, so here go.

When I was in my early teens, my mom came home with a hardcover copy of this book that she bought when a local library had a sidewalk sale. My mom saw it and knew immediately that I would enjoy it because dinosaurs and history were of interest to me. Also, I have recently discovered that Lampman had written a book called Rock Hounds that my mom had enjoyed during her childhood and remembered even decades later, so I think that may have also played into why she got it for me.

I read it over and over. I still have the copy my mom had bought me and revisit it every couple of years. Lampman is a wonderful, clean writer. She writes with empathy even though there is a certain matter-of-fact detachment to it as well. It is a combination that I have not encountered often, but it works so well and creates very readable material. The simple drawings always complement the story and bring more life to it, she creates believable characters (especially children) who aren't overcomplicated but still manage to experience personal growth, and extends that care into her plots, which are straightforward and purposeful. Her books are also educational in subjects that children may not always have easy access to. I read Rock Hounds recently after finding a copy on eBay to see why my mom liked it so much, and found it to be just as enjoyable (particularly since that one was even more educational and talked a lot about geology, which is not a subject I know a lot about), well-written, and thoughtfully executed.

But, aside from all that, this book just spoke to me. There are books that whittle their way inside you and find a home. Even when you aren't reading them, they are your constant companion, forming your world view and influencing your life, imagination, and perspective. The idea that somehow one dinosaur survived and befriended two kids fascinated and intrigued me—and still does. I so wished I would find my very own George! I also adored the setting, as growing up in a big city, I had never had any experience with the West or small towns. It also was written during a time when things were different, which made it intriguing for me. In the 1990s when my mom got me the book, 1955 would have seemed so long ago! (It was written when my mom and dad were kids, and so maybe even if I wasn't aware of it, the books may have also given me a little more of a glimpse into the world in which they grew up, which only made me like and treasure it more.) Even at that time, I had wanted to be an archaeologist, but after reading this book, I was unable to choose between that and paleontology. History, and what we can learn from it, has always been a passion of mine, even from an early age.

This book made such an impact on me and has stayed with me faithfully for so many years that I even have a tattoo of George on my left forearm, as a reminder of the openness and exploratory nature of children. Although I didn't become an archaeologist or a paleontologist (I actually became a writer!), history as a hobby has stayed with me throughout my lifetime and it is one I explore through reading quite often. Books like this make that pursuit an absolute joy.

I will close by saying I have never read the second book in this series, and I likely never will. I did not know it existed for a long time, and once I found out, I wanted to preserve George and the kids the way I remembered them. I adore Lampman as a writer, but I have a distrust of sequels and did not want the memories of this book to be somehow tainted, as so often first books are, by the potential failures of books that follow in their wake. ( )

I had high hopes of putting this into my growing "small town adventures" collection. Cheerful, often humorous stories of life in small towns, especially in the mid-twentieth century and often involving mysteries. My collection includes such gems as the works of Elizabeth Enright, Donald Sobol, Keith Robertson, and many more.

Sadly, Ms. Lampman will not be joining the ranks. On the surface, this is a good candidate - even sounds a bit like the classic Enormous Egg. Two children, living on their mother's newly inherited ranch, are worried about money problems, which may force them to move back to town. When a professor shows up to hunt for dinosaur bones, they have high hopes of getting enough money to enable them to stay. Then they discover a real, live stegosaurus. Who talks. English. Things move on from there, including a rough diamond pilot, seemingly inoffensive bank robber, and the bones of Eohippus, the prehistoric horse.

There are several serious flaws in this story. First, the children, especially Joey, are money-grubbing, selfish opportunists, who continually persist in trying to use George, the stegosaurus, throughout the story. Although their concern about money is understandable, it's not justification for their icky behavior. Plus, having lived in the southwest myself, I find it difficult to understand why they would want to live on an isolated, drought-ridden ranch merely because "It was fun living in the country by themselves....There was the tumbling old barn to live in, and it was a contest against the weather to coax the garden to grow. There were strange insects, and every once in a while they caught a glimpse of a jack rabbit..."

The most serious flaw is....George. Why on earth should a stegosaurus be able to talk English? If he's isolated enough to think a car is a dinosaur and a plane is a Pterodactyl, how does he know that A. the children are harmless, B. they talk English? Any little inconsistencies are explained away by his lugubrious voice, "that was instinct" or "I know I'm stupid."

Presumably, after inadvertently wrecking his home and leaving the children in possession of the reward for catching the bank robbers, payment for various boarders, reward for finding Eohippus, and eventually money for the ranch which will be near the new dam (a glut which should satisfy even their greedy little hearts) George at some point returns in the sequel.

However, I think he should have died a natural death. Long, long, ago.

Verdict: Collectors may be interested in this title, but those who read older fiction for pleasure should give it a miss.

ISBN: N/A; Published 1955 by Doubleday (there is a reprint edition currently in print from Purple House Press); Borrowed from the library

I LOVED this book when I was a child. I was a big dinosaur geek, so surely that was part of it. I'm reading it wtih my son right now, and I'll be interested to see how it's held up over time. ( )