Customer Reviews

Bone Poems

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My kids (5 and 6) can't get enough of this book. The rhymes are irresistible and the drawings are funny too. My favorite is about the Ankylosaurus ('who moved with a clunk and a clank-ylosaurus'). Finally have to buy it as I'm feeling guilty about hogging the library copy!

We were first introduced to this wonderful book by the library - what fun! My daughter and I have danced to the rythyms of the words and giggled at our struggles to pronounce all of the species names. It has a great information guide in the back and super drawings. Great for dino and nature lovers of all ages.

BONE POEMS is a collection of poems written by Jeff Moss which were inspired by and researched at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. These poems are both fun to read and educational. Many of them are also highly humurous. For example, "Ostracoderms"

"Ostracoderms"

Ostracoderms were ancient fish

Who had no jaws to chew.

With open mouths their food was slurped

As water filtered through.

Perhaps that's why ostracoderms

Kept such a pleasant mood--

They never had to hear their moms

Say, "Henry, chew your food!"

Besides the poems, the book also includes a mini-comic book telling two sides of a story involving a rhinoceros and an elephant. The end of the book includes a pronunciation guide illustrating how to pronounce all the different animals and many other difficult words found throughout the book. A wonderful gift for any child who likes dinosaurs, bones, or poetry.

This book of poetry is not only true poetry, with rhythm and meter perfectly attended to, it is a great educational text. The author researched his work at the American Museum of Natural History. Although the poems are sometimes silly, they are always accurate and true to our current knowledge of the dinosaurs. There is a pronunciation guide to all dinosaur names in the back, so you will be reading the words correctly and not be stumbling through the poetry. The meter is true and well done, unlike many so-called "children's" poems where the author discards any effort to count syllables, making reading aloud awkward. I was so impressed by this book and my daughter loved it. I had rented it from the library on a lark after hearing about Jeff Moss and what a great children's poet he is and of his work on the beginnings of Sesame Street.