Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones [Hardcover]

Judy Schachner (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Skippyjon Jones

Summary:
0

About the Author:

•Judy Schachner lives with her husband and the real Skippy in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
Author: Judy Schachner
Illustrator:0
Publisher:Dutton Juvenile
Published Date:10/18/2007
Format:Hardcover
ISBN:0525478841
#of pages:#N/A

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Holy guacamole! Skippyjon Jones is crazy-loco for dinosaurs! The kitty boy enters (via his closet) the land of dinosaurs in search of the fabled Skipposaurus. Instead he runs into his old amigos, the Chimichango gang. When a T-Mex threatens the pack, it's El Skippito, the great sword fighter, to the rescue. With yips and yowls, he drives the big baddie away, so all the dino-dudes can rattle their bones another day. This fourth entry in a series that Kirkus Reviews called "ay caramba, mucho fun," will win even more fans for the Siamese cat with oversize ears and an imagination to match.

Take a Look--and a Listen--Inside Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones

Listen to author Judy Schachner give a rousing reading of Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones--the whole book! You can follow along with pages 5-7 below. Click on each image to see a larger view of the page.

About the Author

Judy Schachner lives with her husband and the real Skippy in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Juvenile; Har/Com edition (October 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525478841
• ISBN-13: 978-0525478843
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 10.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,402 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Dinosaurs
  • #72 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Cats

More About the Author

Judith Byron Schachner has been illustrating and writing children's books since 1992 and has given numerous presentations in schools and libraries. Her workshops are designed to be warm and personal with a special regard for the less than stellar student.
"Kids love to review my rotten report cards and laugh out loud at a slide show involving 4 cats and a funeral. Teachers love the 'Seed Box' filled to the brim with a magical collection of 'Junk' to inspire the writer in all of us. Everyone loves to watch 'Don Juan Skippito Bumblito the Great Sword Fighter' come to life with pencil and paper. By the end of the day we all believe that the stories in our own lives are worth writing about."
Judith Byron Schachner grew up outside of Boston in the 1950's. Her early years were not easy: "Growing up we didn't have much money. My mother was very ill, and to make matters worse, I was extremely shy. All my teachers complained that 'Judith needs to speak up in class, Judith needs to improve in arithmetic, and Judith needs to finish her work on time.' But no one complained about my artwork. On paper I drew myself a world where mothers were healthy and teachers were kind. My life was perfection in pencil."
Judith graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1973 with a BFA in illustration and went straight into the "greeting card factories, which included a stint at Hallmark. For five years I designed cute cards, sad cards, funny cards, and wedding cards. I was not having fun; in fact I never wanted to pick up a paintbrush again."
Married life changed many things for Judith. One clear advantage for her was that "for the first time in many years I could step off the 9 to 5 treadmill and devote all my energy to creating a portfolio of children's book art. That was until two little baby girls were born. Then motherhood became my favorite new job. Over the years I read hundreds of books to my daughters. Inspired by the art and words I was moved once again to finish my portfolio and take it on the road to New York. Around the same time I met Donna Jo Napoli who convinced Dutton Children's Books to let me illustrate her novel, The Prince of the Pond," published in 1992.
In 1995 Judith wrote and illustrated her first picture book, Willy and May, and has turned out a number of projects since then. "The wonderful thing about my job is that one day I can be writing about history, as I did in Mr. Emerson's Cook. The next day I'm drawing a wacky old woman for I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie. Or I can bring to life a beloved pet cat in my book The Grannyman. I live in a constant state of 3rd grade bliss - making up stories and drawing pictures. Isn't that what we all did as children?"
Several years ago the great author Lloyd Alexander stood in Judith's back yard admiring her daughters' Viking ship (as Judith puts it, that's another story). Working with Lloyd Alexander has been a dream come true for Judith: "Never in my wildest fantasies did I ever think that my art would inhabit his world of words."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Might not be a favorite of sensitive parents, December 18, 2007

By 

Southern California Gal (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones (Hardcover)

I am normally a huge fan of Skippyjon Jones and loved the other books in the series we've read, so I hate to say anything negative. I bought this book for my 4 yr old twins and while the same adorable Skippyjon Jones is still so entertaining and funny, I was a little uncomfortable with some of the subject matter. First of all, Skippy "steals" dogbones that belong to the bully neighborhood dog, Darwin. I wasn't too keen on that, but I guess it presents an opportunity to talk to your children about the fact that stealing is wrong. Then, after Skippyjon comes out of his hilarious fantasy, Darwin is banging on Skippyjon's door, the bones come tumbling out and, "The next thing he knew, the kitty boy was waking up on the couch." Turns out he doesn't remember what happened, but apparently got worked over by Darwin. The picture shows Skippyjon on a chair with a bandage on his head and an icebag. His mom is competely nonchalant about the whole thing and seems to have no idea?!? he was beat up. When he asks what happened, she "proudly" tells him he decided to return the bones - all of them. Finally, he is back in his room at night and pulls out his stuffed animal with some little bones he somehow managed to hide and sings, "Oh I'm Skippyjonjones, And I'm not a dog fighter, But I still have some bones 'Cuz I'm the decider." What does that mean?!? A wee bit of control-freak behavior going on here and I guess he got away with the stealing after all. A little disappointing and not the best message.

I know Skippyjon is a little stinker at times, but it was depicted in a much more innocent fashion in the previous books we've read. So I was kind of surprised that he seemed like he was deliberately doing things I wouldn't want my children to do (stealing, fighting, manipulating, etc) and didn't seem to learn anything in the end about his behavior. These issues or the way it's presented might not bother some parents, but if you're concerned about your children's exposure and consequently copycatting others, as kids so often do, then you might want to pass on this one and stick with Skippyjon Jones In the Doghouse until you're ready to tackle discussions regarding these issues.

Other than those few things, the book was fun and funny to read and I love that it promotes using your imagination and teaches a bit of Spanish. On a complimentary note, the series is so good and clever that I just expected more. Please don't let it sway you from checking out the other books. They really are gems. Your kids will LOVE Skippyjon Jones and we can all relate to him in one way or another. The twins didn't like this one as much as some of the others, but they got excited as soon as I pulled the book out as they love the character so much. I'd also highly recommend the sweet tale of "The Grannyman" which led to the Skippyjon series.

I'm still a fan, just hope the author takes him back to a more innocent little guy next time and if she decides not to, that he at least learns from his mistakes.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HERE IS HOW TO FIX THE CD, January 29, 2008

By 

T. Knurr (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones (Hardcover)

The CD is not broken it is just an MP3 file and will play on any computer or mp3 cd player. Just load into your computer save on itunes and burn to a disk.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Skippito and dinosaurs - Oh my!, October 19, 2007

By 

K. W. Regis "book lover" (Silver Spring, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones (Hardcover)

We were introduced to this book and author at the National Book Festival. If you are not familiar with Skippyjon Jones, he is a Siamese cat whose head is too big for his body and whose ears are too big for his head. He believes he is a Chihuahua and takes the psuedonym Skippito when he goes on his many adventures! What a delight it was to hear Judy Schachner read this story. If you get a chance to meet her at your local bookstore, take your children and enjoy!