www.harborlightnews.com Week of March 5-11, 2014 Harbor Light Community Newsweekly 5B I have become that Person. I have stood in front of countless patient booksellers reciting the line, “Thump, thump, thump…a meat eating dinosaur is coming.” I wait a beat, in hopes that the line alone will spark some recognition, and then follow up with “I don’t remember the exact title but it’s a children’s book about a dinosaur.” Depending on the level of patience that particular bookseller has on that particular day, I then go on to explain about the forest animals running for their lives as I try and conjure up helpful details from one of my favorite childhood books. I have done this in numerous bookstores in numerous states for many years with no luck. The book about the meat-eating dinosaur was a favorite of my brothers and mine. We loved the “Thump, Thump, Thump” build up. “A meat-eating dinosaur is coming! And you’re meat!” the forest animals warn each other. The end is the best part (spoiler alert): The dinosaur passes by all the forest animals and goes straight into town to order “Sixty million hamburgers, please.” Suspense with a humorous dénouement; it doesn’t get any better. The book was kept in the cottage we shared with extended family. It became known as “a summer book”. It belonged to all of us and no one was allowed to take it over the winter. That book was as much a part of summer as bomb pops, ice cream cones, Petoskey stones and playing in the lake. My father read it on so many consecu- tive nights, as we tried to get our fill of it before the season changed, that he could probably still recite it by heart. And then one summer it just disappeared. In the family shuffle of cottage sharing, it was lost. For a while, we believed it would turn up. Perhaps it was tucked away somewhere or had slipped behind one of the beds. Most of us had moved on to chapter books by then and weren’t too concerned. However, a few years later, during the last summer living in that cottage, I searched every inch to no avail. When we moved cottages, and everything was packed up for the last time, I had to admit the book about the meat-eating dinosaur seemed to be lost forever. When I realized that our copy was most likely never going to be found, I started to morph into what must be every book- seller’s idea of a nightmare customer. I became, that Person, the one who has no recollection of book title or author but stands before them wide-eyed and with complete faith in their bookseller powers to know exactly what the book is by a random line I’d pulled out of context. Sometimes I would even repeat the line a few more times, as if this might lead one of them to suddenly say, “Of course I know what book you’re talking about, let me just grab it from the shelf.” In reality, the most common response was “I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The invention of Google allowed for more thorough searches but, no matter my googling skills, the searches brought back nothing but a bunch of scientific children’s books that didn’t even come close to the illustrations resembling my beloved meat-eating dinosaur. Then, it happened. Just a few weeks ago, the meat-eating dinosaur crossed my mind and in a fit of procrastination from my dull adult responsibilities, I typed in “Thump, thump, thump” and “ meat-eating dinosaur”. This time my search gave me the title Dinosaur Comes to Town. Yes! That was it. I couldn’t believe that for the first time in almost thirty years I was getting closer to finding our beloved book. Armed with the correct title, I found a picture of it. I had suspected it was out of print and searching with the correct title proved this to be so. Now it was about finding someone out there with a copy for sale. Thanks to the ever-advancing Internet, it wasn’t hard. More and more independent new and used bookstores have websites of their own and the capability to reach more consumers. I found several independent sellers with copies for sale and jumped at the chance to have this book back on my shelves. It’s arrival a few days ago brought a bit of summer to my otherwise dreary winter day. I was ecstatic. Few things from childhood are as wonderful as we remember them to be. Di- nosaur Comes to Town seemed to stand up to the memory. But I wondered if it could stand up to the true test of time. Could it compete with the picture books of today? Could it keep the attention of a child of the IPad era? As a lover of all books, I often get my chil- dren’s book fix by reading to my godsons, Banks (age 4) and Fisher (age 18months). Banks is a tough sell and so I decided to introduce him to my Dinosaur. I slipped it into the stack of books I brought over to read. I didn’t make a fuss over any of the books and as we made our way through the stack he grew bored with some and wanted to talk through others. But when we got to Dinosaur, the “thump, thump, thump” seemed to grab his attention. After reading several books, I asked him what his favorites were and Dinosaur Comes to Town made the cut. The meat-eating dinosaur has stood the test of time and thumped, thumped, thumped into an- other child’s heart. I would love to hear about your fa- vorite childhood book and/or your children’s favorite books. Email me at [email protected] Celebrating Words, Literature, Authors, Libraries, Booksellers and Reading! With special Harbor Light Newspaper LitChat Editor/Columnist Emily Meier, [email protected] Emily Meier and Wally Between the Covers | 152 E. Main St., Harbor Springs | 231.526.6658 | [email protected] As part of our ongoing efforts to honor reading and writing, “LitChat” will be included in our newspaper on the first Wednesday of every month. Emily Meier, a writer and reader with deep connections to northern Michigan, is our LitChat editor. LitCha t Overheard in the bookstore “I don’t use a bookmark. I can remember the page, even if I have three or four going at the same time. I just lose all my book- marks.” - Shirley Ann Mogford, age 9 (currently on page 2 of Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun) In Search of ‘The Meat-Eating Dinosaur’ Banks & Emily approved books: Dinosaur Comes to Town by Gene Darby illus. Art Seiden The Five- Dog Night by Eileen Christelow Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman Bark George by Jules Feiffer This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen If You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano illus. Erin Stead Caps for Sale Esphyr Slobodkina Click, Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin illus. Betsy Lewin Between the Covers recommends: The Bear’s Song, by Benjamin Chaud How to Wash a Wooly Mammoth, by Michelle Robinson, illus. by Kate Hindley Dream Dog, by Lou Berger, illus. by David Catrow Please Bring Balloons, by Lindsay Ward How to Hide a Lion, by Helen Stephens Secret Pizza Party, by Adam Rubin, illus. by Daniel Salmieri Carnivores, by Aaron Reynolds, illus. by Dan Santat How to Train a Train, by Jason Carter Eaton, illus. by John Rocco Paul Meets Bernadette, by Rosy Lamb And the Cars Go . . . , by William Bee Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo, by John Lithgow, illus. by Leeza Hernandez Books with Buzz, Coming Soon: Veggies with Wedgies by Todd H. Doodler Mister Bud Wears the Cone by Carter Goodrich Bob and Rob by Sue Pickford And books so popular they made all the lists: The Snatchbook by Helen Docherty Illustrated by Thomas Docherty Battle Bunny by Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett Illustrated by Mathew Myers The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt, Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers It’s award season in the book world. 2014 Caldecott winner: Locomotive by Brian Floca 2014 Caldecott Honor Books: Journey by Aaron Becker Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner 2014 Newberry Award: Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCAmillo 2014 Newberry Honor Books: Doll Bones by Holly Black The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes One Came Home by Amy Timberlake Paperboy by Vince Vawter And the winner is... Reading Lists... I wait a beat, in hopes that the line alone will spark some recognition, and then follow up with “I don’t remember the exact title but it’s a children’s book about a dinosaur.” “Thump, thump, thump…a meat- eating dinosaur is coming.”
Harbor Lit Chat March 5, 2014
Mar 28, 2016
Harbor Light Newspaper LitChat page, March 5, 2014
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www.harborlightnews.comWeek of March 5-11, 2014 Harbor Light Community Newsweekly 5B
I have become that Person.
I have stood in front of countless patient booksellers reciting the line, “Thump, thump, thump…a meat eating dinosaur is coming.” I wait a beat, in hopes that the line alone will spark some recognition, and then follow up with “I don’t remember the exact title but it’s a children’s book about a dinosaur.”
Depending on the level of patience that particular bookseller has on that particular day, I then go on to explain
about the forest animals running for their lives as I try and conjure up helpful details from one of my favorite childhood books. I have done this in numerous bookstores in numerous states for many years with no luck.
The book about the meat-eating dinosaur was a favorite of my brothers and mine. We loved the “Thump, Thump, Thump” build up. “A meat-eating dinosaur is coming! And you’re meat!” the forest animals warn each other. The end is the best part (spoiler alert): The dinosaur passes by all the forest animals and goes straight into town to order “Sixty million hamburgers, please.” Suspense with a humorous dénouement; it doesn’t get any better.
The book was kept in the cottage we shared with extended family. It became known as “a summer book”. It belonged to all of us and no one was allowed to take it over the winter. That book was as much a part of summer as bomb pops, ice cream cones, Petoskey stones and playing in the lake. My father read it on so many consecu-tive nights, as we tried to get our fill of it before the season changed, that he could probably still recite it by heart.
And then one summer it just disappeared. In the family shuffle of cottage sharing, it was lost. For a while, we believed it would turn up. Perhaps it was tucked away somewhere or had slipped behind one of the beds. Most of us had moved on to chapter books by then and weren’t too concerned.
However, a few years later, during the last summer living in that cottage, I searched every inch to no avail. When we moved cottages, and everything was packed up for the last time, I had to admit the book about the meat-eating dinosaur seemed to be lost forever.
When I realized that our copy was most likely never going to be found, I started to morph into what must be every book-seller’s idea of a nightmare customer. I became, that Person, the one who has no recollection of book title or author but stands before them wide-eyed and with complete faith in their bookseller powers to know exactly what the book is by a random line I’d pulled out of context. Sometimes I would even repeat the line a few more times, as if this might lead one of them to suddenly say, “Of course I know what book you’re talking about, let me just grab it from the shelf.” In reality, the most common response was “I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The invention of Google allowed for more thorough searches but, no matter my googling skills, the searches brought back nothing but a bunch of scientific children’s books that didn’t even come close to the illustrations resembling my beloved meat-eating dinosaur.
Then, it happened. Just a few weeks ago, the meat-eating dinosaur crossed my mind and in a fit of procrastination from my dull adult responsibilities, I typed in “Thump, thump, thump” and “ meat-eating dinosaur”. This time my search gave me the title Dinosaur Comes to Town. Yes! That was it. I couldn’t believe that for the first time in almost thirty years I was getting closer to finding our beloved book. Armed with the correct title, I found a picture of it. I had suspected it was out of print and searching with the correct title proved this to be so. Now it was about finding someone out there with a copy for sale. Thanks to the ever-advancing Internet, it wasn’t hard. More and more independent new and used bookstores have websites of their own and the capability to reach more consumers. I found several independent sellers with copies for sale and jumped at the chance to have this book back on my shelves.
It’s arrival a few days ago brought a bit of summer to my otherwise dreary winter day. I was ecstatic. Few things from childhood are as wonderful as we remember them to be. Di-nosaur Comes to Town seemed to stand up to the memory. But I wondered if it could stand up to the true test of time. Could it compete with the picture books of today? Could it keep the attention of a child of the IPad era?
As a lover of all books, I often get my chil-dren’s book fix by reading to my godsons, Banks (age 4) and Fisher (age 18months). Banks is a tough sell and so I decided to introduce him to my Dinosaur. I slipped it into the stack of books I brought over to read. I didn’t make a fuss over any of the books and as we made our way through the stack he grew bored with some and wanted to talk through others. But when we got to Dinosaur, the “thump, thump, thump” seemed to grab his attention. After reading several books, I asked him what his favorites were and Dinosaur Comes to Town made the cut. The meat-eating dinosaur has stood the test of time and thumped, thumped, thumped into an-other child’s heart.
I would love to hear about your fa-vorite childhood book and/or your children’s favorite books. Email me at [email protected]
Celebrating Words, Literature, Authors, Libraries, Booksellers and Reading!
With special Harbor Light Newspaper LitChat Editor/Columnist Emily Meier, [email protected]
Emily Meier and Wally
Between the Covers | 152 E. Main St., Harbor Springs | 231.526.6658 | [email protected]
As part of our ongoing efforts to honor reading and writing, “LitChat” will be included in our newspaper on the first Wednesday of every month. Emily Meier, a writer and reader with deep connections to northern Michigan, is our LitChat editor.L i t C h a t Overheard
in the bookstore
“I don’t use a bookmark. I can remember the page, even if I have three or four going at the same time. I just lose all my book-marks.”
- Shirley Ann Mogford, age 9(currently on page 2 of
Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun)
In Search of ‘The Meat-Eating Dinosaur’
Banks & Emily approved books: Dinosaur Comes to Town by Gene Darby illus. Art SeidenThe Five- Dog Night by Eileen ChristelowGo Dog Go by P.D. EastmanBark George by Jules FeifferThis is Not My Hat by Jon KlassenIf You Want to See a Whale by Julie Fogliano illus. Erin SteadCaps for Sale Esphyr SlobodkinaClick, Clack Moo: Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin illus. Betsy Lewin
Between the Covers recommends: The Bear’s Song, by Benjamin ChaudHow to Wash a Wooly Mammoth, by Michelle Robinson, illus. by Kate HindleyDream Dog, by Lou Berger, illus. by David CatrowPlease Bring Balloons, by Lindsay WardHow to Hide a Lion, by Helen StephensSecret Pizza Party, by Adam Rubin, illus. by Daniel SalmieriCarnivores, by Aaron Reynolds, illus. by Dan SantatHow to Train a Train, by Jason Carter Eaton, illus. by John RoccoPaul Meets Bernadette, by Rosy LambAnd the Cars Go . . . , by William BeeNever Play Music Right Next to the Zoo, by John Lithgow, illus. by Leeza Hernandez
Books with Buzz, Coming Soon:Veggies with Wedgies by Todd H. DoodlerMister Bud Wears the Cone by Carter GoodrichBob and Rob by Sue Pickford
And books so popular they made all the lists: The Snatchbook by Helen Docherty Illustrated by Thomas DochertyBattle Bunny by Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett Illustrated by Mathew MyersThe Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt, Illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
It’s award season in the book world.
2014 Caldecott winner: Locomotive by Brian Floca
2014 Caldecott Honor Books: Journey by Aaron BeckerFlora and the Flamingo by Molly IdleMr. Wuffles by David Wiesner
2014 Newberry Award: Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCAmillo
2014 Newberry Honor Books:Doll Bones by Holly BlackThe Year of Billy Miller by Kevin HenkesOne Came Home by Amy Timberlake Paperboy by Vince Vawter
And the winner is...
Reading Lists...
I wait a beat, in hopes that the line alone will
spark some recognition, and then follow up with “I don’t remember the exact
title but it’s a children’s book about a dinosaur.”
“Thump, thump, thump…a meat-eating dinosaur is coming.”
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