I read this book years ago, about 1964. It has been an all-time favorite. Beautifully written. Anyone who reads this book is going to love George the Stegosaurus and his two friends, Joey and Joan, the children who found him. This is a wonderful book to read to your older children, age 10 more or less. I suggest we all read this book again for old-times sake!! Enjoy.

By Christie Schultz I'm currently looking for titles by an author that I remember with fondness from my own childhood. I am a teacher, and have been trying to find them for my students, and my own son. E.S. Lampman wrote not only about Native Americans, but about fantasy worlds which put science fiction effectively into the hands of young people. The first two are the "Shy Stegosaurus" books. I found one of them listed and it is "hard to find"; the first is "The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs". It's about a stegosaurus which not unreasonably has a weird liking for bananas (the more ripe, the better), and at some point it is labled as an Indian spirit by the local Native American Shaman. You're right, it's a great story! The second book is "The Shy Stegosaurous of Cricket Creek", the story line of which I forget other than a brother and sister find the last living dinosaur, and it can talk to them. The children are out riding horses in the canyon, and suddenly they see the rock face move...the dinosaur has to live near a mineral spring to survive.... Lampman effectively uses biological concepts like natural camoflage of animals as plot devices, makes reasonable guesses about their dietary needs, and as well she shows an effective grasp of Native American cultural issues. One of her later sci-fi books, "Rusty's Spaceship", was pure fantasy with the weird visits to various planets in the solar system, but it is such a ripping good story that questionable science facts become immaterial! (Jules Verne wasn't accurate either, but he's still in print!). In fact, reading it as an adult, I see it for what it is, the book is a child's dream of what might really be on Jupiter (creatures made of gas bags) or on Mars (armies of flying ants) or how it might be to take your homemade spaceship into space. Another title by this author is "City Under the Back Steps", and it's a precursor to "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" and a semi-steal from L.F Baum's "Policeman Bluejay" (another rarity from 1910 or so). Storyline: two children are bitten by the Queen ant and shrink down to ant size....and learn a good deal about the life of a hive of ants. Lampman had a very pithy sense of humor I thought at the time, and I enjoyed these books, and others by her, very much as a child. I wish they were around for youngsters today.

What's amazing is that there are five other reviews here of this obscure children's book, which has to be almost 40 years old. One reviewer here recalls reading the book back in 1964, which is about the year I would have read it. And we all seem to have fond memories of reading this delightful book. This story about George the shy stegosaurus was one of the most entertaining children's books I (and apparently, all the other reviewers here, too) ever read, which, from the title, you might think we were all nuts. But back in the early 60's this was state-of-the-art for children's books, and it really was a great little book. It skillfully integrated a dinosaur theme with the story of the curious little brother and sister who discovered his hideaway, and things take off from there. I understand there are occasional rare, used copies available--but unfortunately they're not cheap.

Lampman also wrote several other books, Rusty's Spaceship, one other shy stegosaurus book, The Shy Stegosaurus of Indian Springs, and The World Under the Back Steps. Rusty's Spaceship was another one of my favorites. In this book, Rusty and his alien friend, Tipia, go gallivanting around the solar system, having various adventures, before returning to earth, where they have a few more in their invisible spaceship.

All these are great books for your kids. If you can find reasonably priced used copies, they're all worth picking up.

Yes! I am so glad to see this book available at last. Bargain Bride is the story of Ginny (possibly spelled wrong). Only a teenager, she is married off to an elderly farmer in the Oregon Territory, a bargain struck by relatives who feel burdoned by her care. Her new husband only marries her in order to gain access to more land through the Homestead Act, but Ginny scarcely has time to worry about the marriage because, within a week, her husband dies. Ginny immediately inherits all the land and is left a wealthy widow living alone in a frontier community. She is soon considered the catch of the county, but will Ginny marry for security and companionship before noticing the feelings of real love hidden right under her nose?

As a child, I have to confess I enjoyed Lampman's fantasy novels more, but as an adult, I am only beginning to respect her talent for presenting history in a wonderful, entertaining way. She is especially advanced in her character treatment of Native Americans. ALL of her books are worth looking up in the libraries (as might be expected, libraries in Portland have more than usual). I don't understand why she is out of print, her books are wonderful for classroom reading. Any teachers, I highly recommend her books.