Customer Reviews

Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Laughter is contagious. I read this book to my 7 and 8 year olds the other night and we laughed and laughed.

I value funny. I encourage my kids to be funny and to try to be funny and to work on their funnyness. They were interested why I thought this was so funny. They knew why THEY liked it. It was silly and crazy and whimsical. But why did I think it was funny, they asked? I told them, look... this book has four jokes on one page (the infamous "pickle pants page"). Layers of funny heaped with funny with a funny on top. Yum!

We bought this book with the CD. The author reads it and it really cracks me up. Her use of language is so funny. I did read a review about the stealing, and that is disheartening if you are very sensitive to those things, but the stealing of bones is really secondary to the story. In fact, until I read that review I didn't put two and two together. The rest is so whimsical. It is really about his imagination, and his quest with the dinosaurs. I would definitely recommend the CD where the author reads it aloud. Her use of language makes me laugh.

This is the first Skippyjon book my family has read and what a treat it is! My husband and I were laughing so hard that tears streaked down our faces. Our son just got the book yesterday, along with another Skippyjon book, and we've already read them three three times each. I now want the whole series. Skippyjon books are bound to be classics and I know they will always be favorites around here! Who ever could have thought of a Siamese Cat who likes to pretend to be a dog? Darling and Funny!!!

My daughter LOVES this book!! We've read it (her to me and me to her) a million times. AND when I got sick of hearing it, we put in the CD and let the author read it to her! LOL This line of books is quite fun.

These books are fun for the whole family. My kids (4 and 6) both love Skippyjon Jones. This is just another great book in the serise. And the CD is great for "read-along" time! Saves me having to read it 30 times a day.

All of Judy Schachner's Skippyjon Jones books are wonderful. Of course, the star is Skippyjon himself, a little Siamese kittyboy with a big imagination. He is in great demand at the small library I work at. The children love him so much we can't keep him on the shelves.

Reading this silly picture book made me fall in love with this series. I'm now a huge fan of the Siamese cat who thinks he's a chihuahua.

The plot (Skippy's desire to be a paleontologist leads to adventures confronting rumba-dancing dinosaurs) is only part of the book's appeal. It's great to read out loud, because the words and sentences are so silly. For example, when Skippy's friends the Chimichangos rush out to dance with the dinosaurs, "Skippito" is worried: "You will be crushed like crispitos beneath the dinos' toes-titos!"

The illustrations have lots of hidden details. A drawing of Skippyjon's room includes toy dinosaurs holding pickles, dinosaur doodles on the wall and "Skippy's Big-Boy Chart" taped onto the wall complete with checks and gold stars.

The book also comes with an audio CD of the author reading the story, using different voices for each character. Schachner sometimes breaks into song. My favorite is the one she sings to the tune of the old Frito Bandito commercial: "Oh, my name is Skippito Friskito, And I hunt for the dinosaur-ito, With gigantico ears, That's been buried for years, Under layers of sediment-ito!"

Silly, silly, silly. And what a treat!