Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur

When his parents return from Kenya with a cute little green lizard on his eighth birthday (he’s two times two times two), Jacob Two-Two is thrilled. But it isn’t long before Jacob realizes that his new pet Dippy isn’t a lizard after all. And as months pass, it is apparent Dippy isn’t so little either. Soon Dippy is attracting all sorts of unwanted attention and before he knows it, Jacob is on the run from the Canadian government with a full-grown dinosaur to hide.

Children's Literature

Jacob Two-Two is the baby of his family of seven, nicknamed for his habit of saying everything twice in order to be heard. Teased by his four older siblings, he often feels dumb or neglected. But when his parents return from Kenya and bring him a little pet lizard, he finds the companionship he seeks. Jacob names his new pet Dippy and marvels as Dippy grows and grows and grows. As fat as an elephant and as tall as a giraffe, he makes quite a splash in his Canadian community, terrifying country club members with his visit to their swimming pool. A vain and power hungry prime minister decides to intervene and slay Dippy in a publicity stunt, but Jacob and Dippy have already headed for the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, where Dippy hopes to meet a girlfriend. In many parts, this book is clever and funny, such as in the names of adults (Professor Wacko Kilowatt and Prime Minister Perry Pleaser) and in the descriptions of the government "yes men." About a third of the way into the story, Dippy surprises both Jacob and the reader by speaking and revealing his identity as a dinosaur. Unfortunately, his dialogue is—well—dippy, and not very believable. The other players are delightful caricatures though, amusing in their bumbling wickedness. The story moves along swiftly, with growing tension as Jacob and Dippy outrun and outwit their pursuers. Their expectation that Dippy will find his soulmate in the hills is questionable, but readers may accept this in a world where a dinosaur can exist frozen below the surface of the earth, become dislodged by an earthquake, and shoot up through a steam jet. Whimsical and exaggerated illustrations help to tell the tale. Reviewer: MicheleC. Hughes

Mordecai Richler was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1931. Raised there in the working-class Jewish neighbourhood around St. Urbain Street, he attended Sir George Williams College (now a part of Concordia University). In 1951 he left Canada for Europe, settling in London, England, in 1954. Eighteen years later, he moved back to Montreal.

Novelist and journalist, screenwriter and editor, Richler, one of the most acclaimed contemporary writers, has spent much of his career chronicling, celebrating, and criticizing the Montreal and the Canada of his upbringing. Whether the settings of his fiction are St. Urbain Street or European capitals, his major characters never forsake the Montreal world that shaped them. His most frequent voice is that of the satirist, rendering an honest account of his times with care and humour.

Richler’s many honours include two Governor General’s Awards and innumerable other awards for fiction, journalism, and screenwriting.

Mordecai Richler died in Montreal, Quebec, in 2001.