For Mum and Dad Margaret and Eric Plumridge Who always believed I could Mari For Dad Who introduced me to dinosaurs And for Mom who found Godzilla And to Ray Harryhausen the man who made me see dinosaurs walk Bob Copyright 2013 by Hollan Publishing Inc A Hollan Publishing Inc Concept by Caleb Schmidt All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles All inquiries should be addressed to Sky Pony Press West 36th Street 11th Floor New York NY 10018 Sky Pony Press books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion corporate gifts fund-raising or educational purposes Special editions can also be created to specifications For details contact the Special Sales Department Sky Pony Press West 36th Street 11th Floor New York NY 10018 or info skyhorsepublishing com Sky Pony is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing Inc a Delaware corporation Visit our website at www skyponypress com Manufactured in China June 2013 This product conforms to CPSIA 2008 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file ISBN 978-1-62636-176-8 Text by Marianne Plumridge Illustrations by Bob Eggleton Image composition by Cortney Skinner www cortneyskinner com Photo opposite the title page credited to Justine Michaud
What if Everyone knows just a little bit about dinosaurs a snippet about what they were when they lived and when they might have died They were reptiles big lumbering reptiles and also quick little reptiles Some were bird-like and others were lizard-like And millions and millions of years ago they covered the planet way before the history of humans began Then something happened and all the dinosaurs died We don’t know how or why But ever since the first fossils were found scientists have tried to find out What we know about dinosaurs comes from years and years of study Bones and fossils dug up all over the world are carefully put together again like a giant jigsaw puzzle Sometimes all the pieces are there but most often they are not Then the scientists have to think hard about what that dinosaur might have looked like To do this they see what other members of the dinosaur’s family looked like and then compare them But what if the dinosaurs never died out millions of years ago What if they still lived today What if they lived right here in my town
If a Corythosaurus lived in my town she could be a crossing guard 6
Dinosaur Factprint Corythosaurus ko-rith-oh-saw-rus was large colorful and crested She could walk upright on her long sturdy back legs At twice the height of a human adult she would be large enough to stop traffic and colorful enough to not need the neon vests that school crossing guards or road crews wear Corythosaurus’s snout was shaped like a duck’s bill and instead of regular teeth she had hundreds of little teeth inside of her cheeks to chew with
