Martha the Coelophysis (dictated by Peter Jerz, age 7)

Once upon a time, in the Triassic Period, there were four hatchlings in a coelophysis nest, down deep in a stone cave, in the desert (wet season). The four hatchlings were Jonathon, Larry, Joseph, and the youngest one was Martha.

They were coelophyses. They lived with their mother and father. But being a baby coelophysis was dangerous, because coelophysis was a cannibal. —Peter JerzMartha the Coelophysis (dictated by Peter Jerz, age 7) (

Over a span of three bedtimes, my seven-year-old son Peter dicated this story. He had thought it up on his own and told it to me during the day, and I thought it was remarkable, so he dictated it to me (in a slightly expanded form). All the parenthetical insertions are his — he will say “open parenthesis,” then give the detail, and he will say “close parenthesis” when he’s done. I added the footnotes. The bit about the velociraptor fur was a nice touch at the beginning, but you won’t believe how he brings the fur back into the story towards the end.