Give Me Back My Bones!

PreS-Gr 2–At the bottom of the ocean, a pirate’s skeleton has become scattered. Piece by piece, it is retrieved from its marine home and reassembled. While doing so, it sings a little shanty describing major bones from the scapula to the mandible. These are not sterile, dictionary descriptions, rather they are quite playful, such as describing a skull as “the pirate’s flag-of-dread bone.” Norman’s jaunty scheme reuses an ending word in the first three lines, before breaking off in the final line with a different one and some alliteration. It is a structure that places stress on the actual term in a memorable way. Even the digital illustrations keep the focus on the topical character through the color choices. The depths are a darker blue, and nothing else has that exact shade of white or gray.