The Legend of King Arthur-a-tops

K-Gr 2–In typical fairytale tradition, this story begins “Once Upon a Time” in Camelot; the only difference is a hundred million years or so. It features softly colored cartooned dinosaurs dressed in the garb of the Middle Ages. As knight-o-saurs attempt to pull the dinosaur horn from a magical stone in order to receive the kingdom’s crown, a cast of anthropomorphic creatures with names ending in –dactyl, -saur, -atops, or –raptor fill the cast of a tale that follows the growth of a leader and the development of his self-image. His successful show of strength prompts an outdoor feast as “Merlin-a-dactyl crowned Arthur-a-tops…the one true king.” Lest the reader forget what precipitated the historical end of the dinosaurs, there’s a final opportunity to predict an ending as a meteor breaks through hazy skies during a celebratory picnic.