Mordecai Richler

When Jacob Two-Two's father brings him back a small lizard from Kenya, it grows to enormous proportions, and to protect his now identifiable Diplodocus from frightened grown-ups, Jacob runs away with him to British Columbia.

After Jacob Two-Two's father writes a very important novel, the family makes plans to move to Canada. They board the SS "Spring-a-Leak" for a journey across the ocean, but something is wrong aboard ship. A series of clues -- a black eye patch; a parrot who squawks "Apple sauce in your underpants!"; and a sailing ship flying the Jolly Roger -- can only mean trouble. Will the intrepid Shapiro and the fearless O'Toole really be left on a desert island?...