Chapter 1 THE BIG DIG

  Clump!

  Clomp!

  Clump!

  Henry opened and closed the cabinet doors in the family room.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Mom.

  Henry opened another door and said, “I’m looking for my FAVORITE shovel.”

  Mom raised an eyebrow. Henry had a lot of favorite things. He had a favorite magnifying glass. He had a favorite soccer ball. He even had favorite pirate coins. But Mom had never heard of a favorite shovel.

  Henry’s older sister, Heidi, hadn’t heard of it either.

  “You have a FAVORITE shovel?” she asked with a huff.

  Henry sighed. “Well, of course I do! Doesn’t EVERY kid have a favorite shovel?”

  Heidi snorted. “I definitely DO NOT have a favorite shovel. And why do you need a shovel, anyway?”

  Henry threw his hands in the air. “Um, for DIGGING! Why else would I need a shovel?”

  Dad walked into the room and asked a very important question. “So, what are you going to dig?”

  Henry hopped around and cheered, “Dinosaur bones!”

  Dad nodded thoughtfully. “And where are you going to find dinosaur bones in Brewster?”

  “My class is going on a field trip to dig where the old bank building used to be,” Henry explained.

  “I didn’t know dinosaurs used BANKS!” his sister said with a laugh.

  Mom giggled too. “Was it the First Prehistoric Bank?”

  Henry frowned. “Not funny. I need my favorite shovel if I’m going to find anything good.”

  Dad nudged Henry’s arm. “Actually, I’ve heard some cool stuff from Brewster’s past has been uncovered at the old bank.”

  Henry hung his head and mumbled, “Yeah, but no dinosaur bones.”

  This time nobody made a joke.

  “So, what does your favorite shovel look like?” asked Mom, changing the subject.

  Henry lifted his head a little. “It has a wooden handle and a steel scoop.”

  Mom’s face lit up, and she stepped outside to pull something from the garden. Then she came back into the house and held up her spade.

  “Could this be your favorite shovel?” she asked.

  Henry held out both hands. “That’s it!”

  Mom handed it to Henry. “Mystery solved!” she said. “Now go find those dinosaurs.”

  Chapter 2 DREAM-A-SAURUS

  Henry flipped through his Big Book of Dinosaurs.

  If I found a dinosaur bone, I would be the coolest kid in school, Henry thought. Or the coolest kid in THE WORLD!

  Henry began to daydream about what it would be like to find a dinosaur bone.

  He imagined tramping over dusty red rocks with a pail in one hand and a field kit on his back. It would be a perfect day for a dinosaur hunt.

  “I think I spy something sticking out of that rock wall!” he would say.

  Then he would hold a magnifying glass over his find. Could it be? It looked like the bone of a Tyrannosaurus rex, but bigger!

  He would free the bone with a steel pick.

  Henry wondered what it would be like to hold a real dinosaur bone in his hands. Or what it would be like to discover a new kind of dinosaur.

  He would call it the Henry Heckelbeck-a-saurus!

  Henry pictured himself at the Brewster History Museum next. He would cut the ribbon to the Henry Heckelbeck-a-saurus Exhibit, and the crowd would roar.

  But that was just a dream.

  As Henry doodled in his notebook, he didn’t hear his sister walk into the room.

  “What are you drawing?” Heidi asked.

  Henry covered his drawing with his arm. Heidi peeked over his shoulder and saw a sketch of a dinosaur skeleton.

  “Okay, Henry,” said Heidi. “If you DO dig up a dinosaur bone, which you never will, I promise to dress up like a dinosaur and hand out cookies at your exhibit.”

  Henry laughed. “That would be almost as cool as finding a dinosaur bone!”

  Heidi rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I came to tell you dinner’s ready,” she said as she walked out of the room.

  Henry looked back at his drawing. Maybe I WILL dig up a dinosaur bone! he thought. Then my favorite shovel will become my LUCKY shovel!

  He laid his shovel on top of his doodles and headed downstairs.

  Chapter 3 WISHBONE

  Henry sat up in bed in the middle of the night. A bright light shone in his room. Is that the moon? he wondered. He squinted at the glowing light.

  No, that’s not the moon! That’s my magic BOOK!

  There had been an old book on Henry’s shelf since he was a baby.

  He didn’t know it was magic until much later. But the book had always been by his side. It came to him in times of need.

  Now the magic book was floating to Henry along with a medallion. The chain circled Henry’s head and came to rest around his neck.

  The book landed on his lap and opened all by itself. Pages began to flutter until they stopped on a spell called the Wishing Spell.

  The Wishing Spell

  What is your greatest wish? Do wish you had a swimming pool? A puppy? Or perhaps you wish to find treasure? If your wish is pure and good, then this is the spell for you!

  Ingredients:

  1 shovel

  4 drops of glue

  1 picture of what you wish for

  1 wish filled with hope

  Gather the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Then hold your medallion in one hand and place your other hand over the mix. Chant the following spell:

  Diggery duggery dee!

  Diggery duggery doo!

  Give me a sign of a

  ________________________

  (something you hope to find)

  Then make my wish come true!

  Henry gathered all the ingredients, including a picture of a dinosaur skeleton. Then he wrote down his wish:

  Henry dropped his wish into the mix. Then he grabbed his medallion and chanted the spell.

  All of a sudden his shovel began to glow. Then a bright light flashed.

  When Henry opened his eyes, his alarm was beeping. His shovel no longer glowed, the medallion was gone, and the old book was back on his shelf.

  That’s weird, Henry thought. I must have been dreaming!

  Chapter 4 DIG THIS!

  On the day of the class dig, Henry brought his favorite shovel to school. It still hadn’t glowed since the night before, but he kept checking—just in case.

  “Why do you keep checking your backpack?” Dudley Day asked on the way to the dig site.

  Dudley was Henry’s best friend. They both liked to play spies and soccer.

  Henry closed his backpack. “I don’t want my books to crush my lucky shovel. That’s all.”

  Dudley nodded as if he understood. “Hey, I brought my lucky shovel too!”

  He pulled out a yellow beach shovel and showed it to Henry.

  “Yeah, I built a blue-ribbon sandcastle with this!” Dudley said. “I got my picture in the newspaper and everything!”

  Then somebody leaned over the boys’ seat from behind. It was Max Maplethorpe. Max was the new girl. She was also a gifted spy and sometimes a little bit nosy.

  “Check this out!” she said.

  Max dangled her shovel in front of the boys. It had a built-in compass. Then she pulled out a smaller shovel from inside the handle.

  “Whoaaaa!” the boys exclaimed at the same time.

  “Bet you I’ll find something REALLY special with THIS!” Max said as she slid the mini shovel back inside the handle.

  Henry had no doubt she would find something special with a cool shovel like that. What he did doubt was his own shovel. For one thing, his shovel didn’t have any fancy hidden compartments. For another, it had never won a sandcastle contest.

  And, worst of all, his shovel didn’t even glow anymore. And maybe it never had.

  Chapter 5 FUNNY BONE

  The dig site was located in between a parking lot and a sandwich shop. Cars drove by it like it was nothing special. Plus, it was much smaller than Henry had expected.

  A dinosaur skeleton would never fit here, he thought. Unless it was a mouse-size dinosaur.

  Then his teacher, Ms. Mizzle, clapped her hands and said, “Class, I want you to meet Ms. Yards. She is a scientist, and she is going to tell us the history of this site.”

  Ms. Yards wore a large floppy green sun hat and scruffy hiking boots. She held a clipboard in her hand.

  “Welcome, boys and girls!” she said. “Raise your hand if you know what used to be here.”

  Everybody’s hands shot up. “A BANK!” they cried.

  Ms. Yards nodded. “That’s right! And before the bank, there was a grocery store here. And before the grocery store, there was a dressmaker’s shop. And way before that, a home stood on this land.”

  Dudley raised his hand. “How do you know all that?”

  “Good question!” Ms. Yards said. “One way we know is from town records. Another way we know is by the artifacts found on this site.”

  Now Ms. Mizzle raised her hand. Henry had never seen a teacher do that before!

  “Can you explain what an artifact is?” she asked.

  “Sure.” Ms. Yards smiled as she held up an old chipped teacup. “An artifact is something from the past that you find on a dig—like this teacup. Do you want to see more?”

  The class followed Ms. Yards to a table covered with artifacts. There were coin s, plates, buttons—even a rusty toy truck.

  “We need your help to find more artifacts,” said Ms. Yards.

  Then Ms. Yards asked if the kids had any more questions.

  “Have you found any DINOSAUR bones?” Henry asked.

  Everyone laughed except Ms. Yards.

  “Not yet,” she said, winking. “But maybe one of you will be the first!”

  And nobody laughed at that.

  Chapter 6 BUTTONS AND BEANS

  Ms. Yards handed out paintbrushes, shovels, and buckets.

  “What are the paintbrushes for?” Dudley whispered to Henry.

  “To dust off your artifacts without hurting them,” said Henry.

  He showed his friend how to pick up a rock and dust off the dirt with his paintbrush.

  Next the boys picked an area to dig. Dudley found something right away.

  “It’s a brass button that still has thread in the holes!” he cried.

  Dudley ran to the tent to share his find. Henry went back to digging.

  Then Max found something.

  “An arrowhead!” she cried.

  Henry ran over and asked, “May I see?”

  Max held it up for Henry to study.

  “Sorry, Max,” he said. “This isn’t an arrowhead. It’s just a really cool rock.”

  Max looked at her find more closely too.

  “Huh, I guess you’re right,” she said. “But I’m STILL going to find something amazing!”

  A few minutes later Max dug up an old pillbox.

  Soon everyone began to find stuff. They unearthed a ruler, a lantern, a pair of suspenders, and even an unopened can of beans.

  Henry was the only one who hadn’t found anything.

  “I thought this field trip was going to be fun,” he complained under his breath.

  Then he jammed his shovel into the ground. Only this time, when he pulled his shovel back out, it began to glow.

  Chapter 7 FINDERS KEEPERS!

  Henry stared at the glowing shovel and wondered what to do. But he didn’t have to wait long. The shovel tugged his hand like a dog pulling on its leash.

  The shovel dragged Henry to a corner of the site, where it plunged into the dirt.

  “That’s not a good place to dig!” called Ms. Yards from the tent. “We’ve already checked that area, and it’s empty!”

  Henry yanked his shovel out of the ground and stood up. But the shovel had a different idea. It pulled Henry right back down and began to dig all by itself.

  Henry had to make it look like he was digging. What would his classmates think if they found out he had a magic shovel?

  “Five more minutes, Henry!” called Ms. Mizzle.

  Henry and the shovel kept digging.

  “Okay!” he answered.

  Now the shovel began to dig faster, like it knew it was running out of time.

  Dirt flew everywhere.

  Then—CLICK!—the shovel hit something.

  Henry’s heart began to beat faster as he dug around the object.

  He pushed the shovel under the object and loosened it. Then he pulled it out of the ground.

  “I FOUND something BIG!” Henry yelled, brushing the dirt off the object.

  He waved his find in the air. Everybody came running.

  “What is it?” asked Ms. Yards.

  Henry couldn’t believe what he held in his hands. “I think it’s a DINOSAUR BONE!”

  Chapter 8 T. REX-CELLENT

  And Henry had found a dinosaur bone. His class crowded around him.

  “May I touch it?” asked Dudley.

  “Can I see?” Max asked.

  “Are you going to name it?” asked somebody else.

  Ms. Mizzle whistled. The class stopped talking.

  “Henry has made an exciting discovery!” she said. “And now Ms. Yards will invite some other scientists to the site to look at it. We’ll learn more after lunch.”

  Henry didn’t want to leave his dinosaur bone, but knew he would see it again. His class had lunch at a park across the street. Henry, Dudley, and Max sat at a picnic table.

  “You know what this MEANS?” asked Dudley, pulling a sandwich from his lunch bag. “It means you’re going to be FAMOUS!”

  Henry pictured his name in lights.

  He didn’t even notice when his magic shovel fell on the ground. Max picked it up.

  “Henry! Be more careful!” Max scolded. “This shovel is VERY lucky. It was almost as if it did all the work FOR you!”

  Henry sprayed a mouthful of milk on his lunch. Max and Dudley looked at each other and erupted in laughter. Henry wiped his face.

  “That’s silly, Max!” he said. “Whoever heard of a MAGIC shovel?!”

  Max stopped laughing and raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t say ‘MAGIC’ shovel, Henry. I said ‘LUCKY’ shovel. Are you hiding something?”

  Henry kept up the fake laughter. “That’s a good one, Max!”

  He didn’t want Max to get any more curious about his magic.

  She was a spy, after all.

  Ms. Yards was waiting for them when they got back to the site.

  “Everyone, gather around!” she said excitedly. “We’ve now learned that Henry’s bone is from a very special Tyrannosaurus rex! Is there anyone here who would like to help us dig for more dinosaur bones?”

  Everybody’s hands shot up.

  “YES!” shouted the class. And, of course, Henry yelled the loudest.

  Chapter 9 SKELETON CREW

  Each scientist was paired with two students. Henry got to work with Ms. Yards.

  Soon the class began to find more dinosaur bones. Henry unearthed the dinosaur’s skull.

  It was so cool, but not as big as Henry had imagined.

  Dudley pulled a dinosaur hip bone from the dirt.

  “I found a HIP!” he cried.

  Other students began to shout about their finds too.

  “I found a TAIL bone!”

  “I found a TOE bone!”

  “I found the SPINE!”

  After two hours of digging, there were no more bones to be found. Everyone laid the bones on the tables.

  “Since Henry discovered the dinosaur, he will help the scientists piece it together,” said Ms. Yards.

  The class cheered for Henry. He had never felt so important.

  Then they began to assemble the dinosaur bones.

  The bones snapped together easily, like plastic building blocks.

  Putting this dinosaur back together is much easier than I expected! Henry thought.

  Henry and the scientists worked quickly.

  When the dinosaur was finished, it had a long tail, sturdy leg bones, and a skull full of razor-sharp teeth. The dinosaur wasn’t nearly as big as Henry had expected.

  “That’s because it’s from the Grocery Period,” Ms. Yards told him.

  Henry had never heard of the Grocery Period. But it didn’t matter, because everybody loved his dinosaur—even the local TV news, who sent a reporter to the scene.

 

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