With four sleeps til Halloween I am sharing some seasonal reads with you

Before I turn my blogging thoughts to Christmas!!

Today three of our favourite Skeleton stories

They are all perfect for young readers

Who want a gentle not too spooky Halloween

First, a classic …

View this post on Instagram

Today is Janet Ahlberg’s birthday. She was born on this day in 1944. I absolutely adore The Ahlberg’s and their books were a huge part of my childhood. Funnybones is a timeless Halloween classic, full of fun and an absolute dream to read out loud. My children love this book and can recite the opening lines. I think all bookworms of a certain age probably still know those wonderful words. One of the best story openings of all time and definitely one of the most recognisable. The story of Funnybones shares a night time adventure with big skeleton, little skeleton and dog skeleton. They head out of their cellar and into town, to frighten somebody!! With no one around to spook they decide to play in the park. They are having fabulous nocturnal fun until the dog has a bit of an unfortunate accident. Leading to one of the best comedy sequences in a picture book. Absolutely hilarious to read aloud with little ones and a joy to recreate through animation. My husband is the creator of @zu3danimate and we have had some wonderful workshops at our house for home ed friends animating sequences from the skeleton story. Funnybones also features The Skeleton Song that has stayed with me my whole life. I remember singing it at school some 30 odd years ago and have loved singing it with my own children, who all adore The Ahlbergs just as much as I do. There are some super Funnybones cartoons on You Tube which we love to watch. They are very true to the books and to the special style of Allan and Janet. The perfect classic story for Halloween with huge potential for learning and bookish play. A perfect piece of Halloween literary history for little readers. @puffinbooksuk #funnybones

A post shared by Jennie Bookish Play & Learning (@edspire) on Oct 21, 2020 at 6:00am PDT

Next, something brilliant and clever

View this post on Instagram

This book is brilliant! Utterly genius! This book wins Halloween! It has everything. It is fun, it is educational, it is about a skeleton pirate! This is a brilliant brilliant book! Give Me Back My Bones is a romp of a readaloud with a strong repetitive rhythm that encourages you to read with mounting excitement and speed through each stanza. This book made all my children laugh from 3 years old to 10. My 10 year old gifted scientist son exclaimed, “Mummy, this book is brilliant. It tells you the common name for each bone, the scientific name for each nine and uses metaphor to describe the purpose and function of each boon.” He is right. The perfect blend of science and story, a poem begging to be performed, wonderfully humorous illustrations. This educational illustrated rhythmic story is a joy. And the potential for playful learning and extending the story of the skeleton pirate is very exciting. Using this book to kickstart a bone hunt has also sprung to mind. This is a book that we will keep coming back to as we learn about the human skeleton and how to use metaphor in our writing. If you have not read this book then you really really must. I know I keep saying it but it really is a brilliant, brilliant book. @authorkimnorman @bobkolar @bigpicturebooks #givemebackmybones

A post shared by Jennie Bookish Play & Learning (@edspire) on Oct 22, 2020 at 4:00am PDT

The third book in our skeleton collection celebrates unexpected friendships

View this post on Instagram

Have you met Oscar? He is a lovely little skeleton who is feeling down because he has lost a tooth and he is worried it will hinder his chances of finding a friend. One day he meets a little girl burying a tooth. The little girl agree to give Oscar her tooth if he helps her achieve her dream of finding a friend. Hand in hand the two go adventuring and exploring their two very different worlds. The language is beautiful and the collaged illustrations are stunning. I live the skeleton library spread! This is the story of finding friends at unlikely times in unlikely places. This is a story that shows we can be friends with people who are very different from us. This is a story to show that we can be friends with people from places very different to our own. This is a story of finding and cherishing friends and knowing that true friends will love us lost teeth and all. At the end of the story they promise to see each other again and Oscar gives the little girl back her tooth. Can you think why? A beautifully written book with lyrical prose describing the adventures of the new unexpected friends. The collages pictures are incredibly clever and add a whole other layer to the story. The perfect non scary skeleton story for young readers this Halloween. Where would you take a new friend? What would you want them to see, touch, taste and hear? What would you do together? What adventures would you have? @lantana_publishing @ten.pawel.pawlak #halloweenbooks #halloweenbooksforkids #halloweenbookstagram #booksforchildren #childrensbookstagram #childrensbooksofinstagram #kidsbooksofinstagram #picturebooksofinstagram #picturebookblogger #edspirereads

A post shared by Jennie Bookish Play & Learning (@edspire) on Oct 27, 2020 at 5:50am PDT

The story of Oscar and his new friend

Inspired some lovely writing from Esther and William

View this post on Instagram

After reading the book Oscar Seeks A Friend by @ten.pawel.pawlak I asked Esther and William to write down what they would do with their friends if there were no obstacles. They both went off and wrote the things they would like to do and see with their special friends. It has made me very emotional reading these when we do not see our friends nearly so much as we would like x Also, I am incredibly proud of my young writers, my little bookworms with the hugest of hearts filled to bursting with love and hope and dreams @lantana_publishing #oscarseeksafriend #lantanapublishing #friendshipgoals💕 #childrensbooks #childrenswriting #littlereaders #littlewriters #readingismagic #readaloudfamily #booksaremagic #booksforhalloween #halloweenathome #halloween2020 #edspirereads #proudmama❤️

A post shared by Jennie Bookish Play & Learning (@edspire) on Oct 27, 2020 at 7:22am PDT

Do you have a favourite skeleton book?