Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur (Jacob Two-Two Adventures)
Grade 4-6 Jacob Two-Two, the hero of Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (Knopf, 1975; o.p.), reappears in this tall tale about a small boy and a friendly dinosaur who struggle against incompetent government bureaucrats. Feeling lonely, he is delighted when Dad illegally brings home a lizard from a trip to Kenya. Before long, he realizes that Dippy is in fact a talking diplodocus who was jolted out of hibernation during an earthquake. When the incompetent Prime Minister and his apple-polishing advisors learn about Dippy, they declare him a menace to the public safety and make plans to destroy him. Jacob and Dippy then take off for British Columbia to hide in the wilderness. As in the previous book, the adults are stupid, greedy, racist, violent, and they hate children. Although the humor is not to everyone's taste, young middle-school readers who like a tall tale and satirical humor will enjoy this fast-paced adventure story. They will applaud when Jacob and Dippy outwit the inept bureaucrats. The story and its style of humor might also interest some older and reluctant readers. However, Butterworth's The Enormous Egg (Dell, 1978) is funnier and a far better story about the perils of keeping a pet dinosaur. Virginia Golodetz, St. Michael's College, Winooski, Vt.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.