Barefoot Books Dinosaur Rap Novels & Stories

“I want to hear how your Papa will roar like a dinosaur.” The three of them shared a laugh as Althea settled on Nicholas’ one side after taking her shoes off while Dominic did the same. He then opened the book and propped it over his lap and looked down at his son, who is waiting for him to start. “In the land behind the mountains, filled with trees and a big, big river,” Dominic started slowly, “a new baby dinosaur is born and his mama and papa named him Bobby." Dominic continued to read the story and elicited some giggles from Nicholas when he made the roaring sound of the dinosaurs. He grinned when their son asked Althea to make the same sound and she did, which Nicholas laughed at.

She would have been okay if Dad hadn't made her help Aunty Mia. I set my wolf down carefully on the blanket and pulled out the other toys Mama had bought me. Little dinosaurs that she'd given me for my fourth birthday. We'd played with them together, making up stories about a T-Rex who was friends with a Triceratops even though T-Rexes were supposed to eat Triceratops. "The T-Rex doesn't have to eat his friend," Mama had said, making the T-Rex dance. "Sometimes friends are more important than following the rules."

From where Zane sat, though, he had a clean view straight across the table. "Daddy's phone is doing the blinky thing again," Zane said, not looking up from his dinosaur, the way kids mention the weather. "What blinky thing, baby?" "The one with the flower lady." He shrugged, already bored of the topic, more interested in whether his stegosaurus could beat a T-Rex in a race. "It always blinks when we're eating." Amelia went very still. "What flower lady?" But Nathan was already back at the table, plates in hand, and Zane had moved on to a full breakdown of dinosaur speeds, and the moment closed over itself the way water closes over a dropped stone — smooth, like it had never happened.

"Let's just have a completely ordinary evening. I am so deeply grateful for it." ******* "Daddy," Tom said, leaning over his plate with a serious frown. "A Diplodocus could definitely beat a Brachiosaurus in a fight." "Really?" I asked, setting a basket of bread on the table. "Why do you think so, buddy?" "Because the Diplodocus has a whip tail!" Tom explained loudly, using his arm to copy a swinging tail. "It can hit the Brachiosaurus right in the legs. The Brachiosaurus is just tall, but it is too slow."

Kai beamed, "Dinosaurs! I'm a T-Rex, and you're a triceratops!" Eve laughed, "Okay, let's go to Dino Land." She got down on her hands and knees, mimicking a triceratops, while Kai roared and stomped around as the mighty T-Rex. Lucas walked in, witnessing the playful scene. "What's going on here?" Kai pointed at his dad, "Daddy, be a pterodactyl! Fly in the sky!" Lucas grinned, "Alright, I'm the pterodactyl soaring above Dino Land."

What kind of creature made the ground shake like that? June should be scared. June should have run away from any creature that was approaching her. However, June remained where she was, standing straight as if waiting for the creature to arrive. Getting closer, June could now see the creature's feet. His feet stepped on several large trees at once until they fell, like stepping on grass. The feet are claws with long nails. The feet resembled those of a lizard or dinosaur in the movies June had seen, but the golden scales glistened in the sun, which could now fall freely without being blocked by the shady trees.

The lunch bell had just rung, and the classroom was buzzing with the chaos of twenty children opening lunch boxes and trading snacks. Emory and Colt had claimed their usual spot by the window, their trays side by side, their conversation already in full swing. "And then the T-Rex roared so loud that all the other dinosaurs ran away," Colt was saying, gesturing with his spoon. "Even the triceratops. And triceratops are very brave." "How loud was the roar?" Emory asked, wide-eyed.

"Told you I would." He scrambled to his feet, running over to grab my hand. "Come see! I set up the whole habitat. The T-Rex is the king, and the velociraptors are his army, and the triceratops are trying to fight back, but they're losing because T-Rex is the strongest." I let him pull me toward his dinosaur battlefield, crouching down to examine his setup. "Looks like you've thought this through." "Yeah! And when the pteranodon flies over, everything stops because they're all scared of him even though he's not technically a dinosaur."

Zane told him. I slid two thin storybooks into the main compartment of the backpack, one about dinosaurs, one about a cat. Miss Lina had asked us to bring a favorite book, and he picked two. “Papi, what if the T-Rex on my shirt eats my shorts?” Ash asked. “He only eats green stuff,” Zane said. “Broccoli, peas, all the evil vegetables.” “What about Pepper?” Ash sounded worried. “Pepper eats the T-Rex,” Zane answered, flat. “We already talked about this. Cats beat every imaginary dinosaur.”

He opened the book to a different page, one they hadn’t reached yet, and began reading in a low, steady voice. “The Velociraptor was smaller than people think,” he started. “Only about as tall as you, but fast. Really fast. They hunted in packs, like wolves. Smart. They used teamwork to take down bigger dinosaurs. They didn’t need to be the biggest; they just needed to be clever.”