The best part of second grade was the field trip to Dinosaur Land Museum.

"Class," Mr. Krause shouted above the chatter. "May I have your attention? I'm assigning everyone a buddy. Stay with your buddy until we return to school." Mason crossed fingers, hoping his best friend would be assigned to him.

"Mason and Renee." Mr. Krause pointed to him and then to a red-haired girl with freckles. She looked at Mason and stuck out her tongue.

Their guide was a tall blond-haired woman wearing a long smock with cartoon dinosaurs on it. She led them to the first room to see small fossils and skeletons. Mason wasn't interested. He wanted to see Tyrannosaurus rex, the king.

"Aren't they scary?" Renee shivered as she pointed to a scrawny skeleton of a lizard.

"Aw, that's nothing." Mason rolled his eyes. "Rex would squash him with his big toe."

The second room had little birds with long necks. Although their clawlike beaks were a little scary, Mason stood on his toes and tried to look over the heads of his classmates to get a glimpse of Rex. All he saw were more bird creatures.

"How did these birds become extinct?" Renee asked the guide. Mason wished that Renee was extinct.

"That's a good question. If you follow me to the next exhibit, I'll explain." Mason inched his way around the back of the group and looked up and down a long hall. On one wall was an arrow with a restroom sign. As he turned to go back in the bird room, he noticed a larger sign on the opposite wall. He swallowed hard, and his eyes opened wide as he read the words, "Terrible Lizards."

For more fun reading and other activities, try these Web sites:    • Zoom Dinosaurs    • Discovering Dinosaurs    • Download-a-Dinosaur    • All About Dinosaurs