THE DINOSAUR WHO LIVED IN MY BACKYARD

A channing, enormous, gentle, smiling, vegetable-eating, green dinosaur waltzes through a little boy's backyard--and memories. Soft watercolors in which blue and green predominate enhance the dreamlike story of the dinosaur who hatched in the backyard and grew to the size of the family car. Though he soon towered over house and school bus and was so heavy that ""he would have made my whole neighborhood shake tike pudding if he jumped,"" he looks as soft as plush and light as a balloon. He plays with other dinosaurs, giving the illustrator a chance to show a fierce and toothy Tyrannosaurus, as well as translating the dinosaur back to his own time. He's been gone ""a very long time,"" the little boy concludes--but he and his sister are saving their lima beans in case he comes back. An appealing combination of fantasy and reality for the many dinosaur fans.