Dinosaur's Packed Lunch Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  About the Illustrator

  The Dinosaur’s Packed Lunch

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  About the Author

  Also by Jacqueline Wilson

  Copyright

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  A hand reached out and patted Dinah on the shoulder. A huge scaly hand with a spiked thumb . . .

  On a school trip to see the dinosaurs in the museum, everyone in the class has a packed lunch. Everyone, that is, except for Dinah. Until a friendly iguanodon decides to help . . .

  Soon Dinah has a very special packed lunch – and a huge surprise to come!

  THE DINOSAUR’S

  PACKED LUNCH

  Jacqueline Wilson

  Illustrated by Nick Sharratt

  For Bunny, with lots of love

  ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

  NICK SHARRATT knew from an early age that he wanted to use his drawing skills as his career, so he went to Manchester Polytechnic to do an Art Foundation course. He followed this up with a BA (Hons) in Graphic Design at St. Martin’s School of Art in London from 1981–1984.

  Since graduating, Nick has been working full-time as an illustrator for children’s books, publishers and a wide range of magazines. His brilliant illustrations have brought to life many books, most notably the titles by Jacqueline Wilson.

  Nick also writes books as well as illustrating them.

  Chapter One

  Dinah woke up early.

  She didn’t feel like getting washed. She didn’t feel like getting dressed. She didn’t feel like going to school.

  “Boring,” said Dinah.

  Dinah did not feel like breakfast.

  Not cornflakes and milk.

  “Boring,” said Dinah.

  She made herself a jam sandwich.

  “Yummy,” said Dinah, rubbing her tummy.

  She fed the teddy on her nightie, too.

  Dinah wanted a drink but the lemonade was right at the top of the cupboard with Dad’s beer.

  Dinah couldn’t reach.

  Then she saw Dad’s window-cleaning ladder.

  Dinah nearly reached the lemonade.

  But then the ladder slipped.

  Dad woke up early, too.

  Dinah hated it when Dad got cross. She didn’t have a mum or any brothers or sisters. Dinah just had her dad.

  “How am I going to clean the windows now?” said Dad. “And take that thumb out of your mouth, baby.”

  Dinah always sucked her thumb when she was sad. Her special sucking thumb was starting to get a bit pointed.

  Dinah was still sucking her thumb when she went to school. The boys teased her. Dinah got cross. There was a fight.

  Then Miss Smith got cross and sent Dinah indoors.

  Dinah had a little wash.

  Dinah’s best friend, Judy, ended up having a little wash, too.

  Miss Smith got very cross and said Dinah wouldn’t go on the school trip to the museum if she wasn’t careful.

  “A museum?” Dinah muttered. “Boring.”

  Dinah’s best friend, Judy, was still very damp. She didn’t feel like sitting next to Dinah on the minibus. She sat next to Danielle, and they kept giggling together.

  Dinah had to sit next to Miss Smith.

  When they got to the museum Judy went off arm in arm with Danielle.

  “I don’t care,” said Dinah, sucking her thumb.

  Chapter Two

  Dinah cheered up when they went into a special dinosaur exhibition. Dinosaurs were huge monsters who lived millions of years ago.

  Dinah liked the look of dinosaurs.

  Some of the dinosaurs were very fierce and vicious. Judy and Danielle squealed. Dinah didn’t mind a bit.

  The dinosaurs had huge long names to match their size.

  Dinah wasn’t very good at reading but she found she had no problem spelling out brontosaurus . . .

  . . . and tyrannosaurus and triceratops.

  She particularly liked the iguanodon. It had a funny pointed thumb spike. Perhaps the iguanodon sucked its thumb, too.

  Miss Smith got cross because Dinah kept lagging behind.

  “Hurry up, Dinah. It’s lunchtime,” said Miss Smith.

  Everyone had a packed lunch except Dinah. Dad always forgot things like packed lunches. Sometimes Judy shared her packed lunch with Dinah. But not today.

  “Ooh, my mum’s given me prawn sandwiches and a bunch of grapes and a Kit Kat and a can of Coke. Want half my Kit Kat, Danielle?” said Judy.

  Dinah crept away, feeling very empty. She wandered back to the iguanodon, sucking her thumb.

  “I wish I had a mum to make me a packed lunch,” said Dinah.

  A hand reached out and patted her on the shoulder.

  A huge scaly hand with a spiked thumb!

  The iguanodon reached down and picked Dinah up. It cradled her in its arms, rocking backwards and forwards.

  The iguanodon made Dinah her own packed lunch.

  She ate a leaf sandwich, a bunch of daisies, a twig snack bar and a bottle of dinosaur juice.

  The dinosaur juice was a very bright green. It tasted strange too, but Dinah drank a few drops.

  The iguanodon wiped Dinah’s mouth in a motherly way.

  “Dinah! Where are you?”

  Miss Smith was coming! Dinah jumped down and the iguanodon shot back into place with a rattle and a clunk. Miss Smith didn’t see. She was cross with Dinah.

  Dinah was too dazed to care.

  All the other children were in the gift shop buying books and stickers and little rubber dinosaurs.

  Dinah didn’t have any money but she didn’t mind. She didn’t want a book or a sticker or a little rubber dinosaur.

  She had just had a dinosaur’s packed lunch!

  Dinah was very quiet on the bus going back.

  “You’re not going to be sick, are you, Dinah?” Miss Smith asked anxiously.

  Dinah wasn’t sure. She felt very strange. She sucked her thumb, but it tasted strange, too.

  She went to bed straight after supper. Perhaps she should have had a bath. Her skin felt strange now, hard and dry and itchy.

  Dinah sucked her strange thumb and went to sleep. She dreamt very strange dreams.

  Chapter Three

  When Dinah woke, something even stranger had happened.

  She sat up and her head bumped against the ceiling! Her bed was so tiny she had to cram her knees right up under her chin.

  Her bedroom had shrunk in the night.

  No. Even stranger . . .

  Dinah had grown. She had grown and grown and grown. She had grown a long back and long legs and a long tail!

  Dinah gasped and sucked her thumb. At least she still had a thumb.

  She wondered what to do.

  She decided she’d better tell Dad.

  She had to bend double to get out of her bedroom door and . . .

  edge along the hall, her head neatly sweeping up the cobwebs (Dinah and her dad didn’t bother about dusting) . . . and then she had to bend right down again to get into Dad’s bedroom.

  “Dad. Dad! Wake up, Dad,” said Dinah.

  “What’s the matter?” Dad mumbled. “Stop yelling at me, Dinah.”

  Dad peered out from under the bedcovers. He saw Dinah.

  Dad was the one who did the yelling this time.

  “Aaaaaaaaah!”

  “A monster! A monster! Run, Dinah, there’s a monster in my bedroom,” Dad yelled.

  “Hey, Dad. It’s me, Dinah. I’m the monster,” said Dinah. “Well, I thi