The Secret Life of Larry Lizard (Hardback or Cased Book)

Larry Lizard lives deep in the Redwood Forest with his mom, dad, sisters, and brothers. At bedtime, under starry skies, his parents tell their little lizards tales about their ancestors: the mighty dragons and dinosaurs!

Next day, while his parents are busy and his siblings are nowhere in sight, Larry pretends to be the great king of all dinosaurs-Tyrannosaurus rex-and as his imagination takes over, he sees dinosaurs in everything around him, from the water to the insects to even the clouds above! Soon he is battling a Brontosaurus, then leaping at a flying Pterodactyl, stomping, chomping, and roaring at his prey.

As Larry walked, he passed a pool
and watched his muscles flex;
today our hero was a great
Tyrannosaurus rex.

The King of Dinos looked about
and spied his meal at hand:
a huge and heavy Brontosaur
was sleeping in the sand. . . .

The Secret Life of Larry Lizard is a delightful poem about the fun of adventurous imaginative play and the excitement that comes with learning about one's ancestors-and the awesomeness of dinosaurs! This picture book includes a glossary, titled "Things to Know," which is both informative and humorous, plus a Family Tree where children can write the names of some of their ancestors.

As a boy clambering over the hills in Southern California, Russ used to catch lizards using a loop snare made from a fishing pole with twine strung through its eyelets. He kept his lizards in a terrarium and fed them bugs. He thought lizards were descended from dinosaurs, and he really liked dinos. His sweet aunt, an artist, painted dinos on cardboard for him, and his loving mom carefully cut them out and taped them onto the walls of his room. Tyrannosaurus Rex, Brontosaurus, Stegosaurus, Dimetrodon, Triceratops, Ankylosaurus. They were his rock stars.

Russel Hirst is a retired English professor. Now with no department boss looking over his shoulder, he's begun publishing his poems for kids. I Heard Two Hippopotami was first off the press; he now presents Larry Lizard. He'll share more poems and stories about animals, but really about humans, when the fishing is slow.