So you looked out the kitchen window and something looked back. Don’t panic. Sixty cheerful, practical skills for finding, feeding, bathing, training and loving the largest member of your family, from the morning bottle to the drive-in movie. Every skill fits on one illustrated page.
“Whatever it is, it is not eating the petunias in this house.”Mother, on the first morning
The pet shop has no aisle for it. The veterinarian has never seen one. The neighbors have questions. This book is the calm, friendly voice your family needs, written in the trusted style of the old household handbooks, with a painting for every step.
From “Is It Really a Dinosaur?” to the Christmas tree, every job fits on a single page.
Painted 1950s scenes of the family and their dinosaurs show exactly what to do.
Gentle family humor for all ages. Nobody gets eaten. The petunias are another matter.
US Letter pages with color tabs on the edge, ready for a binder or a print shop.
Each chapter opens with a full-page painting and a short introduction, then moves through its skills one page at a time.
Chapter One · Skills 01–06What to do when you look out the kitchen window and something looks back
Chapter Two · Skills 07–14Keeping a very large appetite happy on a household budget
Chapter Three · Skills 15–21Drinking, bathing and the great garden-hose question
Chapter Four · Skills 22–27Where it sleeps, where it waits, and where it is not allowed
Chapter Five · Skills 28–34Sit, stay, and please stop eating the hedge
Chapter Six · Skills 35–40Sniffles, splinters and calling the very surprised veterinarian
Chapter Seven · Skills 41–47Taking your dinosaur into town, to the beach, and to school
Chapter Eight · Skills 48–54Storms, snow, escapes, and the day there were suddenly twelve
Chapter Nine · Skills 55–60Chores, birthdays, holidays, and growing up together
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A green side panel lists what to gather, from a garden hose to forty pounds of lettuce, with a picture of each item.
The skill number, its chapter, how long it takes and how hard it is. "Skill 01 · The Discovery · 5 minutes · Easy."
Six painted steps, each with a short title and plain instructions you can read across the backyard.
The things that go wrong, called out before they happen. “Never stand directly behind a stegosaurus.”
Tap a page to see it full size. Scroll sideways for more.
Tell a triceratops from a stegosaurus at a glance, and see how many heads of lettuce each one eats.
The new-dinosaur shopping list, the road-trip bag and the storm-night list, ready to tick off.
Name, size, favorite snack and the veterinarian’s number, filled in together.
Tick off each skill once you’ve done it, look up odd words, and find any topic fast.
The printed book is a full-color paperback with a glossy cover, the size of a magazine. Each copy is printed fresh when you order it and mailed to your door. Take a look inside above; the rest is waiting in the book.