Hello, friends! Hope you don’t mind that we took last night off! We’re back today with a new review: Lizard From The Park by Mark Pett, a sweet story about friendship, family, and dinosaurs.

While taking a shortcut through the park one day, Leonard comes upon a most unusual egg. He takes the egg home, playing with it and caring for it, until the next morning when it begins to hatch. Busting through the shell, out pops a tiny lizard whom Leonard names, appropriately, Buster. Leonard and Buster are inseparable, and Leonard takes his new little one to all his favorite places in the city. But as the two grow closer together, Buster is growing as well – he soon outgrows the other people, Leonard’s room, even the roof of the apartment building. Leonard needs to find a solution for his rapidly growing friend, even if it means having to say goodbye… 

This was a very sweet and playful story, with an honest yet hopeful ending that felt just right. Much like Love Is by Diane Adams, Leonard comes to terms with the fact that Buster needs to go out into the world on his own, making this a wonderful metaphor for parenthood as well as a sweet tale about friendship. The illustrations are perfect; sometimes wry, sometimes sentimental, and with a wonderful visual story that dovetails to the main theme nicely. The length is great, and JJ loved it. Definitely Baby Bookworm approved!