Lulu and the Brontosaurus »

Judith Viorst was born and brought up in New Jersey, graduated from Rutgers University, moved to Greenwich Village, and has lived in Washington, D.C., since 1960, when she married Milton Viorst, a political writer. They have three sons—Anthony and Nick (who are lawyers) and Alexander (who does community-development lending for a bank) and seven grandchildren—Miranda, Brandeis, Olivia, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Isaac, and Toby.

It's Lulu's birthday and she's decided she'd like a pet brontosaurus as a present. When Lulu's parents tell her that's not possible, Lulu gets very upset. She does not like it when things don't go her way. So she takes matters into her own hands and storms off into the forest to find herself a new pet, all the way singing:

I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, gonna, get

a bronto-bronto-bronto-bronto-saurus for a pet!

In the forest Lulu encounters a number of animals; a snake, a tiger, a bear, all of whom don't particularly impress her. And then she finds him...a beautiful, long-necked, gentle, graceful brontosaurus. And he completely agrees with Lulu that having a pet would be a wonderful thing, indeed! Lulu thinks she's gotten her birthday wish at last. Until she realizes that Mr. Brontosaurus thinks that she would make an ideal pet for him!

How will Lulu ever get out of this sticky situation without throwing a fit (Mr. B does not respond well to those), or using force (Mr. B is much to tall to bonk on the head with her suitcase), or smushing her pickle sandwich?

Publishers Weekly

While no one can question Viorst and Smith’s street cred, they’ve turned in a curiously unaffecting chapter book. Lulu, a Louise Brooks look-alike, “was a pain--a very big pain--in the butt.” Given to “screech till the lightbulbs burst” when she doesn’t get her way, Lulu quickly wears down parental resistance to her whims. But when Lulu tries to turn a brontosaurus into a birthday pet, she discovers that there may be a creature who’s more willful (and far better mannered about it) than she is. Will Lulu spend the rest of her life as the dinosaur’s pet? Will this encounter turn her into a kinder, gentler kid? The plot and characters barely seems to matter--or act only as setups for Viorst’s irreverent, metafictional nudges. “Is that where a brontosaurus would live? In a forest? I’m afraid that I’m not absolutely sure. But since I’m the person writing this story, I’m putting this brontosaurus in a forest.” It’s an approach that’s made Smith and Jon Scieszka deservedly famous, but here--despite the fun to be had in seeing Lulu finally meet her match--it feels self-indulgent. Smith’s angular pencil illustrations bubble with arch humor, but it’s not enough to rescue this effort. Ages 6 10. (Sept.)