Dan Henderson was prepared for another exciting dinosaur expedition on this beautiful morning. His binoculars were around his neck, his mind was aflutter, and his paleontology notebook was in his bag.
Dan was on his way to the Natural History Museum when he heard a loud noise coming from behind some bushes in the park.
“GRRROOOAAARRR!”
Dan smiled. “That’s the roar of a T. rex! But… he’s not supposed to be in this part of the park!”
He hurried to hide behind a tree and gave it a quick glimpse. He was standing next to a shattered portion of the park’s fence, his imagined companion the powerful Tyrannosaurus rex.
The T. rex looked frustrated, sniffing the ground and glancing at the gap in the fence.
Dan tiptoed closer. “What’s wrong, buddy?” he whispered.
The T. rex let out a low growl and nudged the hole in the fence with his nose.
Dan crouched down and spotted something strange: claw marks and torn vines around the hole.
“This is a mystery!” Dan said, opening his notebook. “This hole wasn’t here yesterday. And if T. rex is here today… something must have happened last night!”
Determined to find out, Dan followed a trail of giant footprints leading away from the fence and toward the community garden. There, he found crushed plants, half-eaten carrots… and lots of scattered leaves.
“Hmm… T. rex isn’t a plant eater,” Dan thought. “He wouldn’t do this.”
Suddenly, something rustled in the leaves.
Dan leaned in—and gasped. “A Stegosaurus! You’re lost!”
The small, spiky-tailed dinosaur looked frightened and hungry. Dan remembered what his science teacher had said: Stegosauruses were herbivores and gentle, unless scared.
“It’s okay, little guy,” Dan said softly. “We’re going to get you home.”
Dan ran back to the T. rex, who was still standing by the fence like a dino-guard.
“I found out who made the hole—it wasn’t you!” Dan said. “It was the Stegosaurus. He was just looking for food.”
The T. rex gave a soft growl, almost like a sigh of relief.
Then Dan had a brilliant idea.
“We can work together! You help me guide the Stegosaurus back to the forest, where there’s plenty of food and space.”
Dan led the Stegosaurus carefully with new leaves, while the T. rex walked close by to protect them.
The Stegosaurus woke up and started eating ferns and bushes as soon as they entered the forest.
Dan smiled.
“Mystery solved. And lesson learned: when something seems like a big problem… don’t jump to conclusions!”
The T. rex let out a joyful roar.
Dan pulled out his notebook and wrote:
“Today I solved a mystery using science, helped a lost dinosaur, and learned that being fair is part of being a great paleontologist.”
And with that, another dino adventure came to a close.
Dan turned toward home, ready for the next prehistoric puzzle.
If you enjoyed the story of Dino Dan and the T-Rex Mystery, we invite you to share our bedtime stories with your children. They will learn valuable lessons and develop a love for reading
