Skeleton Hiccups [Paperback]

Margery Cuyler (Author), S.D. Schindler (Illustrator)

Book Description

Release date: August 9, 2005 | Age Range: 3 and up

What's the best way to help a skeleton get over his hiccups?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Skeletons are a little less scary when they have the hiccups. This particular skeleton can't seem to shake them--not in the shower (nice fuzzy bat slippers!), not while brushing his teeth (woops! there goes the bottom jaw!), not while polishing his bones, carving a pumpkin, raking leaves, or even when playing baseball with his friend Ghost. Ghost, instead of Boo-ing! away his buddy's hiccups right away as we might expect, advises Skeleton to hold his breath and eat some sugar and drink water upside down. When he finally does Boo! it still doesn't work. But when Ghost finds a mirror and holds it up to Skeleton's face, he sees his reflection and screams in fright! The hiccups jump away, hic, hic, hic. While it's novel to see a skeleton eating sugar, drinking water, showering, etc., it may be tricky to find the right audience for this unusual picture book that's more about hiccups than Halloween. (Ages 4 to 8) --Karin Snelson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Skeleton's persistent hiccups prevent him from polishing his bones (his arm jerks loose), carving a pumpkin, raking leaves, etc. "Drink some water upside down," advises Ghost, but the liquid pours out Skeleton's eye sockets. Relief finally comes when Ghost pulls out a mirror and Skeleton scares himself. Cuyler (The Biggest, Best Snowman) punctuates each sentence with a "hic, hic, hic," while Schindler (Big Pumpkin) limns woebegone Skeleton in pale blue-white on elegantly mottled burgundies and evergreens. The illustrations may be spare, but most contain a sly detail or two (check out Skeleton's bat slippers). The commonplace condition and unlikely victim make for offbeat-hic-comedy. Ages 3-6.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 3 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books; Reprint edition (August 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416902767
• ISBN-13: 978-1416902768
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 10.2 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,189 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Children's Books > Holidays & Celebrations > Halloween

More About the Author

Margery Cuyler resides with her husband and two sons in Princeton, New Jersey. Besides writing children's books, she has held executive positions in a variety of publishing houses. She loves to hike, bike, and cook, and is happiest when she entertains the guests who visit the Revolutionary War house in which she and her family live.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars (hic!) Halloween (hic!) fun!! (hic, hic, hic!) October 26, 2002

By Chess Heart VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Skeleton wakes up one morning (the headboard of his bed is a gravestone with RIP engraved on it) and discovers that he's got a bad case of the hiccups. He starts his day off, but the hiccups aren't making things easy for him. In the shower, he looses the soap. Brushing his teeth, his jaw flies off! Polishing his bones, the hiccups cause his arm to come undone! Carving a pumpkin and raking leaves aren't easy, either, with these bone-rattling hiccups!

When Skeleton goes outside to play ball with Ghost, the old remedies for curing hiccups are suggested. Skeleton eats some sugar (which falls through his jawbone and over his ribs), he drinks a glass of water standing on his head (he water gushes out of his eye sockets), and Ghost tries to scare him. Well, nothing works until Ghost gets a sneaky idea involving a mirror...

The team of Cuyler and Schindler have combined to produce a wonderful and funny book in "Skeleton Hiccups." The illustrations are big and bold with vibrant colors that delight the eye. Skeleton is beautifully drawn with enough detail to see his individual bones but not so much detail that he'd be scary to young children. Ghost, too, is a character, sporting a blue baseball cap he wears backwards and a pug nose. The pages are large and uncluttered and easy to read.

The text of "Skeleton Hiccups" is brief and simple, with small-font "hic! Hic! Hic!"s bouncing on each page as skeleton tries to go about his business with these pesky hiccups. When I read this book to a class of preschoolers, they really liked the hic-hic-hic part, and would repeat it every time they saw it on the page. Children who were normally a bit skittish around Halloween skeletons thought that this one was pretty funny, especially because he had troubles that they themselves have had!

"Skeleton Hiccups" is perfect for Halloween time, of course, but there's no reason why it should only be read during October. I showed the book to the art teacher at our school who immediately fell in love with it-"it's sooo hard for kids to draw skeletons!" she said, "they require so much detail. But THIS Skeleton is just perfect!" She went on to say that she intends to use this book and another one called "Hobgoblin and the Skeleton" to teach about human anatomy and proportion in her art classes.

For anyone who likes Halloween or a good laugh, for those of us who have a fascination with the human skeleton, this book comes highly recommended!!

25 of 31 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Dem bones, dem bones, dem hiccuping bones... October 9, 2008

By Judy K. Polhemus TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Normally, I LOVE children's picture books and am quite forgiving if something isn't right about the story or the illustrations. However, this time I am going to say that I just don't care for this story.

S.D. Schindler's illustrations are great--very realistic, the color backgrounds are fabulous in making the skeleton stand out, there is ghoulish humor on almost every two-page spread. In fact, other reviewers note the humor, especially on the wake-up scene when Skeleton first has the hiccups. The walls are darkly purple, like bruises, the coverlet is a magnificent cardinal red, the bedside table is upheld by two grass green snakes, the foot board is a big bat spreading its wings, and the head board is a RIP tombstone. You can't get better than the sum of those items!

Skeleton's hiccups are so bad that doing simple everyday (night?) things breaks his jaw, breaks his arm, slices up a pumpkin he tries to carve with the jolt of hiccups, can't catch a ball because of jerking from hiccups. His friend Ghost gives several tips to ending hiccups--none work.

Finally, Ghost hands Skeleton a hand mirror. That does it--Skeleton shrieks in horror when he sees himself and his hiccups run away, kind of like fleas. I guess the means justifies the end in case of Hereafter friendships. I just wasn't satisfied with the ending.

I certainly would not want to discourage potential buyers from purchasing this book. Other reviewers love it. The illustrations are wonderful. That's all I am saying!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Especially in keeping with the Halloween season September 5, 2002

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Hardcover

A simple word text by Margery Cuyler is wonderfully illustrated by S. D. Schindler making Skeleton Hiccups a highly recommendable and spooky picture book for young readers just learning to sound out their first words. The playful theme of a skeleton plagued with hiccups and the ingenious cure his ghost friend discovers make for a thoroughly delightful tale that is especially in keeping with the Halloween season.