by Moe Zilla

Created on: August 14, 2010

"Once upon a time, in a big cave, past the volcano on the left, lived the Grunt Tribe."

Tomie dePaola was 56 years old when he wrote "Little Grunt and the Big Egg" in 1990. It was just 11 years after he'd won the Caldecott Honor for "Strega Nona," a book which he'd both written and illustrated. But for this book, he came up with a very original hero: a little caveman boy. I've always been fascinated by cavemen, so I'm glad dePaola wrote a story that brings their ancient mystique into the world of children's picture books.

The simple, colorful drawings reminded me of the characters you'd see on "Schoolhouse Rock." Little Grunt's mother is smiling - wearing both a bearskin and an apron - as she sends him out to gather eggs. In a funny twist, the only egg that Grunt can find is an enormous dinosaur egg. But he's clever enough to weave a mat out of giant green leaves, and then use it as a sled to tug the egg all the way home.

Technically, the story's premise isn't scientifically accurate, since cavemen and dinosaurs didn't live in the same era. On the book's jacket, dePaola acknowledges that the book was probably inspired more by the classic newspaper comic strip Alley Oop and characters in the Flintstones. That's why the book's subtitle describes it as "a prehistoric fairy tale," dePaolo explains. But the little boy also learns a very valuable lesson.

When the egg hatches, it's a tiny little dinosaur, who little Grunt names "George" and adopts as a pet. Unfortunately, the dinosaur then grows much larger, and - here's an unpleasant thought - "George wasn't housebroken." George "liked to play rough," and he also tramples things in the cave where the caveman family lives. Even his sneezes have disastrous results, and Grunt's grandmother suggests a different pet instead: a tiny little cockroach.

"I say, That giant lizard goes!" shouts Chief Rockhead Grunt. (And all the other cavemen chant "Ooga, ooga! Yes! Yes!") But later, there's a volcano eruption which sends a river of hot lava towards their cave. George the dinosaur remembers their earlier kindness, and rushes over to let them all escape by riding away on his back! ("Before you could say Tyrannosaurus rex...") But the book's happy ending comes with a twist all its own. It turns out that George the dinosaur is actually a female - and she lays a nest of eggs of her own!

And soon the caveman family has nine more little dinosaurs to deal with....!

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