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"My Dinosaur Adventure"
was created especiallyfor

Yutaka Yokoi
at the age of8

with love from
Grandma and Grandpa
April ２, ２００６



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YutakaYokoiofUtsunomiyahad a special
dream. Hisfavorite books to read from
the library were always those about
dinosaurs,but he wanted to learn a lot
more about them. As he was thinking
aboutthis, a beautiful white unicorn
appeared at his bedroom window.



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Tohis surprise, the unicorn spoke,
"Yutaka, I wantto take you to the Land
of the Dinosaurs. Can you come with
me?"Yutakasaid, "Wow! I would love to
go, but first I mustask permission and
leave a note forAkira, Yuji andMaki."
Moments later, the unicorn
whisked him back in time to theLand
of the Dinosaurs.



* * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When Taro and the unicorn arrived atthe
shore of the beautiful lake, an
apatosaurus(uh-pat-o-SORE-us)greeted
them. He was longer than a big school
bus. "What is your name?"askedYutaka.
"I don't have one,"answeredthe
plant-eating dinosaur sadly. "No one
has ever named any of us."Yutaka
thought for a while and then said, "I
willcall you Stretch."



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"Look at that mountain over there!"
shoutedYutaka, pointing off into the
distance. "Is it onfire?" he asked.
"Oh no, that's just a volcano," replied
the unicorn."Look all around you.
The Land of the Dinosaurs is filled
with many, manyvolcanoes, swamps and
fern jungles."Yutakaadded,"It's also
very hot!"



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While exploring, they met a stegosaurus
(steg-uh-SORE-us)."He sure does have
a lot of sharp points on his back,"
whisperedYutaka. "Those are called
plates," said the unicorn."A
stegosaurus uses them for protection.
They also trap heat from the sunto
help keep them warm."Yutakatoldthe
stegosaurus, "A great name for you
would be Spike."



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Next,Yutakaand the unicorn entereda
dense, humid forest where they found
giant ferns and many reptiles ofall sizes
and shapes. While there, they
heard a strange, snapping sound inthe
distance and cautiously crept closer to
investigate. After all,Yutakahad
wanted to come here to learn as much as
hecould about dinosaurs!



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Not far away, they met anallosaurus
(al-us-SORE-us). She had large teeth
and stood on powerful,hind legs. A
huge tail helped her to stand up. "So
you are the one who ismaking all that
noise," saidYutaka. "I shall nameyou
Alli." Alli said, "Thank you," as she
handedYutakaa branch of flowers.



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Yutakawas having so much fun in theLand
of the Dinosaurs that he had not noticed
that his friend the unicornwas
crying. "Why are you crying?" askedYutaka.
"You have given names to everyone today
except me," sighed theunicorn.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Ariel wouldbe the perfect
name for you," saidYutaka. "I love it!" smiled the
wide-eyed unicorn with abig grin.
"Thank you!"



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As they were talking, atiny
compsognathus(komp-sog-NAY-thus),
about the size of a cat, racedpast
them and said, "You must follow me.
There is something you will wantto
see."Yutakaand Ariel chased after him.
"Wow! He is as fast as lightning.
That's a great name for him,"shouted
Yutakaas he ran.



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They ran and ran until they came to
some rugged, rocky cliffs.Lightning
showedYutakaa nest along the top ofone
of the cliffs and directed him to get a
close look. The nest containedthree
baby pterodactyls(ter-uh-DAK-tuls).
"Who is supposed to be takingcare of
these babies?" askedYutaka.



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"I am!" echoed a voice, circling above
them. Just then a large
glided past them.Yutakafound it hard
tobelieve that a lizard could fly.
Its wing span was about as long ashis
arm.Yutakadecided that Dack would bea
fine name for a flying lizard. The
father pterodactyl glided down tothe
nest. Ariel was quietly talking to
Dack, butYutakacould not hear what they
were saying.



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Yutaka, Ariel and the pterodactylflew
back across the Land of the Dinosaurs
until they once more reachedthe
beautiful lake. This timeYutakasaw a
lotof activity at the water's edge.
Dinosaurs were decorating the beach
withstreamers and balloons.Yutaka
wanted to helpdecorate and wondered if.
he could go to the party. .



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As they landed, a pentaceratops.
(pen-tuh-SARE-uh-tops) rushed togreet.
them.Yutakaquickly counted the five.
horns on his head and decided to call.
him Penti.Then he asked if hecould.
help them decorate. "I want you to .
come with me, but for adifferent.
reason," replied Penti. "We have a.
surprise for you!" .



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The dinosaurs were gathered around a.
large two-tiered cake."What a.
beautiful cake!" exclaimedYutaka,"It's.
for you!" shouted his new friends. Now.
Yutakaknew what Ariel had whispered to.
Dack. Thedinosaurs realized thatYutaka.
had to returnsoon and had wanted to.
help him remember his first visit to
the Land ofthe Dinosaurs.



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After the party, Alli, the allosaurus,
toldYutakathat it was time to leave for
Utsunomiya.Yutakawas a bitsad, but could
hardly wait to tellAkira, Yuji andMaki
about his exciting adventures.
Before he left, they allthankedYutaka
for the nice names he had giventhem.



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Ariel flewYutakahome and said, "Ialso
have a surprise for you,Yutaka." Inhis
room, he found a dinosaur cake with
a personalized card signed by allthe
dinosaurs.Yutakahugged Ariel formaking
his secret dream come true and
told her how much he had enjoyedhis
trip to the Land of the Dinosaurs. "I
will never forget what you havedone
for me! Thank you for my fabulous
dinosaurs adventure."



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **

Yutaka Yokoi
Here are the pronunciationsfor the
dinosaurs you have read about in MY
DINOSAUR ADVENTURE.. Use yourbook
to spell them correctly
(uh-pat-o-SORE-us)_______________________
(steg-ur-SORE-us)_________________________
(al-uh-SORE-us)____________________________
(komp-sog-NAY-thus)_____________________
(ter-uh-DAK-tuls)__________________________
(pen-tur-SARE-uh-tops)__________________
What other dinosaurs can youname,Yutaka?