Lizard from the Park

Marc Notes: When Leonard takes a shortcut through the park, he finds an egg and takes it home, where it hatches into a lizard (or so Leonard thinks). He names his new pet Buster and takes him all around the city: on the subway, to the library, to a baseball game, and more. But Buster keeps growing and growing - and Leonard gets the sense that he is longing for something he can't provide. Before long, Buster becomes too big to keep, and Leonard realises he needs to set him free. So Leonard comes up with an inventive plan, one that involves all the balloons he can find and the annual Thanksgiving parade, in a plot twist that will spark readers' imaginations - and touch their hearts. Publisher Marketing: A lonely boy's new pet grows into a rather large dilemma--and a Thanksgiving parade offers an uplifting solution--in this charming tale from the author of "The Boy and the Airplane "and "The Girl and the Bicycle." When Leonard takes a shortcut through the park, he finds an egg and takes it home, where it hatches into a lizard (or so Leonard thinks). Leonard names his new pet Buster and takes him all around the city: on the subway, to the library, to a baseball game, and more. But Buster keeps growing and growing--and Leonard gets the sense that Buster is longing for something Leonard can't provide. Before long, Buster becomes too big to keep, and Leonard realizes he needs to set Buster free. So Leonard comes up with an inventive plan, one that involves all the balloons Leonard can find and the annual Thanksgiving parade, in an imaginative plot twist that will spark readers' imaginations--and touch their hearts. Review Citations:

School Library Journal 06/01/2015 pg. 90 (EAN 9781442483217, Hardcover)

Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2015 (EAN 9781442483217, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Publishers Weekly 06/15/2015 (EAN 9781442483217, Hardcover)

Booklist 08/01/2015 pg. 72 (EAN 9781442483217, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Pett, Mark Cartoonist Mark Pett's varied and worldly experiences include teaching English and "skewering Czech political figures" as an editorial cartoonist in Prague; teaching sixth grade in rural Mississippi (a stint that later inspired his "Mr. Lowe" strip); and working as a freelance cartoonist. In 2003, high school art students in Indianola, Miss., worked with Mark to turn a "Lucky Cow" strip into the World's Largest Comic Strip (as certified by Guinness). Mark now lives in the Mississippi Delta with his wife and their dogs.