What A Set Of Bones (Funnybones - Allan Ahlberg)

Member Name: belfin

Product:	Funnybones - Allan Ahlberg
Date:	05/07/07 (1096 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Classic characters having fun

Disadvantages: none

I'm not very sure why the blurb at the top gives details for The Pet Shop version of Funnybones as I suggested the original book and that's what it's down as at the top.

***Background***

Allan Ahlberg has written many books over the years but this one dates back to 1980 when it was first published. Even today it is a very popular book but was made really famous by the cartoon series, which brought these lovable characters to life.

Allan’s wife, Janet, illustrated this book along with many others over the years but sadly died in 1994 but her legacy lives on through the wonderful pictures she has created.

***The Story***

“This is how the story begins.
On a dark dark hill
there was a dark dark town.
In the dark dark town
there was a dark dark street.
In the dark dark street
there was a dark dark house.
In the dark dark house
there was a dark dark staircase.
Down the dark dark staircase
there was a dark dark cellar.
And in the dark dark cellar…

…some skeletons lived.”

We are then told how the big skeleton, little skeleton and their dog skeleton live and the things they get up to. They start by going out for a walk at night and end up in the park. They play on the swings and throw sticks for the dog to chase, hoping to frighten someone as they do so.

Unfortunately the poor dog bumps into a bench and his bones end up in a pile on the grass. That’s just the time for he big and little skeletons to start singing the connect a bone song and they try to put dog together again. Despite their best efforts, dog still ends up looking a bit funny as they realise they have his tail and head on the wrong ends of his body.

Soon they have him right again and they remember about scaring someone so they go searching through the town to find someone. The trouble was that everyone was in bed except for all the other skeleton animals so they go to the zoo and have a ride on a skeleton elephant and play with them all.

They decide the only people they are going to be able to frighten that night is themselves and they jump out at each other and have a great time before heading back to their dark, dark cellar.

***The Illustrations***

The pictures in this book are very funny and the skeletons really come to life on every page. As well as the text of the story there are quite a few speech bubbles around so you have a bit of a comic book effect to go with it. This works very well and gives a bit of extra value to the story.

***My Thoughts***

I vaguely remembered Funnybones from the television show but couldn’t really remember what it was all about until I started reading this delightfully funny book that my son brought home from the nursery library. It all came flooding back to me after seeing the illustrations and reading the opening passage that I have quoted above.

The characters are great in this book and the pictures showing the people skeletons trying to rebuild their dog are just hilarious. It’s not often that a child’s book makes me laugh out loud but this one does that job really well.

The story is simple and I suppose that is what has kept this book so popular over the years. It shows that there can be fun to be had almost anywhere if you are in the right frame of mind and although the skeletons don’t get to frighten any real people, they still manage to have lots of fun scaring each other and doing things that real people would do, such as going to the zoo and playing in the park.

I think these things are great for showing children that it’s the fun of being a family that makes occasions special and that even though things don’t always go your way, you can try to put them right again and that practise makes perfect.

My son loves jigsaw puzzles and finds the idea of the skeletons putting the little dog back together very funny. Looking at the various attempts in the book, he has started to point out to me, which bones are in the wrong place and where they should go instead so I guess this is a little bit of a biology lesson too.

When all is said and done though, this is a great book in the series and I’m sure we’ll be looking for other ones very soon.

***Other Funnybones Books***

The Pet Shop
Bumps In The Night
Skeleton Crew
The Ghost Train
Dinosaur Dreams
Mystery Tour
The Black Cat
Give The Dog A Bone

***Price & Availability***

This paperback sells for £5.86 but can be found for the much cheaper price of £3.99 from Amazon.

ISBN No. 0140565817

Summary: What's your bone connected to?