Subject: (urth) "Petting Zoo" spoilers

From: Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 19:12:30 +0000

Everybody has different opinions about ranking stories.  Nick Gevers
dislikes "Walking Sticks," but I like it, in fact I probably like it better
than "Hour of Trust."

But now I'm talking about "Petting Zoo."

In short, Roderick and Rex: a boy and a dinosaur.  And the dinosaur is a
tyrannosaurus rex.  Who can talk and is kind of purple in color.

So yes, there is some Barney <tm> in there.  But there is also something
else, I think--something at the edge of my memory.

I turn to the Children's Literature experts we have around here (I know we
have a few).  What was that book, or series of books, maybe by
HarperCollins now, that had illustrations similar to "Curious George" but
was about a boy who grew a dinosaur from an egg and then rode around on its
neck?  A boy in a polka-dot shirt.

Sure, there are probably a bunch.  But I wonder if there is one in
particular that matches the back-story of "Petting Zoo" like Dr. J/Mr. H
matches "Walking Sticks"?

=mantis=

Sirius Fiction
booklets on Gene Wolfe, John Crowley
Now with UPDATES!
http://www.siriusfiction.com/

--

---

From: Fernando Q. Gouvea <fqgouvea at colby.edu>
Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 22:12:22 +0000

**** On Mon, 25 Mar 2002 11:12:30 -0800, Michael Andre-Driussi <mantis at siriusfiction.com> said:

mantis> I turn to the Children's Literature experts we have around here (I
mantis> know we have a few).  What was that book, or series of books, maybe
mantis> by HarperCollins now, that had illustrations similar to "Curious
mantis> George" but was about a boy who grew a dinosaur from an egg and
mantis> then rode around on its neck?  A boy in a polka-dot shirt.

The description sounds like "The Enormous Egg", by Oliver Butterworth. The
man character is a boy called Nate who finds a large egg from which a live
triceratops hatches. The triceratops is named "Uncle Beasley" and various
adventures ensue. There may be some distant connection, but it doesn't seem
to quite fit the Wolfe story.

Fernando

-- 

Fernando Q. Gouvea                      
Department of Mathematics          Editor, FOCUS and MAA Online
Colby College                      Mathematical Association of America
Waterville, ME 04901               http://www.maa.org
fqgouvea at colby.edu                      
==========================================================

The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science
requires reasoning while those other subjects merely require
scholarship.
  -- Robert Heinlein

--