When their first wonderful day at camp ends, the dino discovers that his bunk is much too small for him, so he takes his pillow outside to sleep beneath the sackcloth skies. Danny's dinosaur is the first ever to attend summer camp, and Danny wouldn't consider trading the unique experience for more food or a better chance to win camp games. Supplies of ketchup, roasted marshmallows, and other foodstuffs tend to run short when one of your campers has the gastric capacity of a dinosaur, but they'll find ways around that. Danny's dino can carry him, his friends, and the camp counselor on his long, broad back with ease, and bring them back to camp without any further effort on their part. The dinosaur is unbeatable at footraces and football games, but he's a lifesaver after you've gone on a long nature hike and feel too weary to walk anymore. The camp itinerary is designed for kids Danny's age, but the dinosaur finds ways to amuse himself, and helps the other campers have a better time than they could without him. We skip the formality of Danny's invitation to the dinosaur this time, cutting right to their jubilant exit from the museum. How can you not have a blast when your camp roommate is a friendly behemoth straight out of the Jurassic period? Danny's dinosaur was never his to keep, having to return to the museum's prehistoric animals exhibit between outings with Danny and his friends, but Danny invites him along whenever he's about to have an especially fun experience, and summer at sleep-away camp is no exception.

It seems as though Danny and his dinosaur's joint birthday wish in Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur! that 'we can all be together again next year' was granted: that book came out in 1995, and 1996 saw the release of Danny and the Dinosaur Go to Camp, the finale of Syd Hoff's easy reader trilogy about a boy who gains a dinosaur for a playmate.

Danny and the dinosaur book