Skippyjon Jones and the Big Bones

This is one of the weirdest children's books I have read to my kids, and believe me, I've read some weird ones. Also, as I was reading it aloud, my husband commented that it's pretty racist. The Spanglish spoken by "Skippito" and his band of Chihuahuas...ay! I've heard of this series and that kids supposedly love them, but seriously...what the hell?

Skippyjon Jones steals the neighbor dog's bones and decides they are dinosaur bones. Then he creates a dinosaur fantasy of sorts. The illustrations are really nice, but the story is very confusing. The wording, which includes Spanish and Spanish-like words, as well as several different nicknames for Skippyjon Jones doesn't help. My almost 4-year-old was completely lost. Perhaps this review is premature as I've only read it once.

A kitten steals a dog’s bones to build a dinosaur model. He gets lost in an imaginary world as a sword fighting Chihuahua explorer in the land of the dinosaurs. He ends up giving most of the stolen bones back to the dog, but he keeps the model “Skipposaurus” as a memento from his adventure. The story is sprinkled with Spanish.

The language was rather confusing, and I think it would be hard for a young child to follow. I wouldn’t recommend this book for early readers. However, I do think that older elementary school children, who have become comfortable with following a story, will really enjoy this silly tale and its humorous foreign elements.

I would use this book in my classroom along with the introduction of the Spanish show more language. It grabs the attention of the students, making it a fun learning experience with a new language. Another extension would be to have the students write their own fictional story, using a few basic Spanish words, expanding their imaginations like Skippyjon Jones. show less

This is probably one of the best children's books ever because it is hilarious! If you haven't read this, and you like to laugh then you need to get your hands on a copy ASAP!

I think that this is another great adventure that Schachner has taken us on with Skippito. This book is a great way to teach students new words like paleontologist and it is another fun book that is bi-lingual. I find that both my Latino and non-Latino students just love Skippito and his adventures.

Summary: This book is about a cat that thinks he is a Chihuahua and steals bones from the neighbors' dog. He hides all the bones in his closet, which he uses his imagination to transform into a land full of dinosaurs. He makes to dinosaurs go extinct with his pickle breathe, then the dog comes over to get all of his bones back.

Critique: I loved this book! It was so silly and made me laugh. The expressions and fluency were there for sure. The illustrations were also very good!

Prompts: What do you think is going to happen when Skippjon Jones finds the other chihuahuas? Would you die from pickle juice breathe?

Craft Elements: I think this book would be really good to read before a mini-lesson on descriptions added to writing. This book show more truly describes what Skippyjon Jones is doing. show less

Summary:
Skippyjon Jones is a little Siamese cat with big dreams. He likes to pretend that he is a chihuahua. While being a chihuahua, he digs up his neighbor's bones (his neighbor is a dog). He takes all the bones and hides them in her room. Skippyjon Jones wants to be a famous paleontologist. Skippyjon takes an adventure into his closet as "El Skippito - The Great Sword Fighter", where he meets real chihuahuas. During their adventure, the group comes across "dinosaurios" that Skippito fights off with his pickle breath.

Personal Reaction:
This story is kind of all over the place. It is a good adventure story, but it is random. This story is bilingual, English and Spanish. Students are able to learn a few words in Spanish that are not show more usually around other languages. I like that it has a different language but in some ways this story may be seen as stereotypical. The pictures are great. They are very vivid.

Classroom Extensions:
This story can be used to go along with a unit on dinosaurs. You could also use the Spanish words already given in the book to show how alike and different languages can be. show less