Theo picked up his blue crayon and unfolded his worksheet. From the shelf, the green dinosaur hopped down and landed with a soft thump right on the first problem.
Theo pushed the dinosaur gently. It didn't budge. He scrunch ed his face and tapped his pencil against the desk — tap, tap, tap.
He moved the dinosaur to the edge of the desk, but it slid right back onto the paper. He tried again — this time into his pencil case. It bumped out the other side.
A third time! He stuffed it in his backpack zipper. The dinosaur wiggled free, rolled across the carpet, and popped right back onto his worksheet. Theo groaned and rubbed his eyes.
Theo sighed and held the dinosaur up. "Mr. Dinosaur, you need to wait," he told it firmly. The dinosaur just sat there, staring back with its painted-on eyes.
Theo stood and walked to Ms. Rivera's desk. He gently tapped her elbow. "Can you help me? Mr. Dinosaur won't let me do my work."
Ms. Rivera wrote "First work, then fun" on a bright yellow sticky note and stuck it right on the dinosaur's back. Theo carried it back to his seat.
The dinosaur stood perfectly still as Theo counted every star, colored every shape, and wrote every letter. He finished the very last problem.
When he finished the very last problem, the dinosaur tipped forward and fell over with a loud CLACK — its little legs wiggling in the air.
Theo picked up the dinosaur and clipped it onto the front of his red truck. "Ready, set, go," he said.
They zoomed across the play rug. The dinosaur wore its sticky note like a winner's medal, bumping softly against Theo's shoulder as they raced around the room.
Work was done. Now it was fun time — and the green dinosaur had been a very good helper after all.