Dem Bones

by Holly Weane, Ivana Forgo (Illustrator)

Overview

In this Halloween story, a collection of dancing animals dressed in their scary skeleton costumes, jump jive and dance to this fun adaptation of the song ‘Dem Bones’.  The repetitive rhyming text inspires children to join in and shake along.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781486716746
Publisher:	Flowerpot Press
Publication date:	08/13/2019
Series:	Flowerpot Holiday
Pages:	20
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 7.75(h) x (d)
Lexile:	AD140L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Growing up, Holly Weane always knew she wanted to be a children's book author. She spent all her time writing silly and spooky stories inspired by her favorite holiday. Her first-ever releases, Dem Bones and 5 Very Little Pumpkins, are perfect examples of all of Holly's favorite things wrapped up into sweet stories for children to enjoy around Holly's favorite holiday.

Ivana Forgo was born in Subotica, a small town in northern Serbia. Surrounded by endless fields of wildflowers and immersed in Slavic fairytales, her imagination flourished. She studied philosophy, but ultimately was drawn to illustration and its ability to transport you to magical worlds. She brings her romantic style to the world of children’s books and draws inspiration from doing her illustrations in her flower garden.

Editorial Reviews

09/02/2019

Weane and Forgo tweak the traditional spiritual to feature the bones of an elephant, billy goat, cat, and dog in this board book rendition. Dusky scenery—showing a castle, ghosts, and plenty of flitting bats—spotlights a group of seven cheerful animals and one human, all wearing white-boned skeleton costumes. As the tune proceeds (“The TOE bone’s connected to the FOOT bone”), four of the cartoon figures receive their own verse (“Now shake them PUPPY DOG bones!”). Readers may wonder why a few of the characters, among them a dinosaur and a bear, don’t earn their own verses, and the chorus’s repetition wears thin after multiple reprisals. But the volume may well encourage readers to shake their own bodies—and their sillies—out. Ages 3–6. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Great for story time sessions."

Youth Services Book Review

2019-07-24
A board-book version of the familiar spiritual, revamped with animal characters in skeleton costumes.

A group of anthropomorphic, bipedal animals who appear to be wearing black, one-piece bodysuits with human skeletons printed on them dance from one spread to the next. The full-bleed cartoon art is dark and busy—especially for a board book—and there's little variation from one spread to the next to sustain visual interest. No matter how catchy the implied tune may be to those who are familiar with it, the repetitive text is less than inspired, too. Following an opening spread in which diverse animals dance to the chorus, elephants come to the foreground to dance to the lyric reading "The TOE bone's connected to the FOOT bone," then ankle, then shin, culminating in the line, "Now shake dem ELEPHANT bones!" The next spread switches back to the chorus with the whole group dancing together ("Now shake dem ANIMAL bones!"). Then the pattern repeats with puppy dogs, kitty cats, and billy goats (each subgroup mysteriously joined by unmentioned dinosaurs) moving in shifts to the foreground as the verses move up the body to name different bones.

Dry. Dim. Don't bother. (Board book. 0-2)

Kirkus Reviews