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Bone
Bone: Racconti intorno al Fuoco
Avvicinatevi! Smiley Bone e Bartleby hanno delle storie da raccontarvi. Siete mai stati a Boneville? No? Be’, questa è la storia del suo fondatore, Big Johnson Bone, e di come è nata la leggenda più amata e famosa da tutti i Bone. Lo sapevate che ancor prima di aver imparato a camminare aveva già sconfitto un ferocissimo orso? E che è stato il primo a domare due strane creature simili a giganteschi ratti, che sembravano intenzionate a prendere il controllo della foresta?
114 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
90 people are currently reading
4252 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Smith
628 books1,430 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.
Born and raised in the American mid-west, Jeff Smith learned about cartooning from comic strips, comic books, and watching animation on TV. In 1991, he launched a company called Cartoon Books to publish his comic book BONE, a comedy/adventure about three lost cousins from Boneville. Against all odds, the small company flourished, building a reputation for quality stories and artwork. Word of mouth, critical acclaim, and a string of major awards helped propel Cartoon Books and BONE to the forefront of the comic book industry.
In 1992, Jeff’s wife Vijaya Iyer joined the company as partner to handle publishing and distribution, licensing, and foreign language publications. In the Spring of 2005, Harry Potter’s U.S. publisher Scholastic Inc. entered the graphic novel market by launching a new imprint, Graphix with a full color version of BONE: Out from Boneville, bringing the underground comic to a new audience and a new generation.
In 2007, DC Comics released Smith’s first non-creator owned work, SHAZAM! Monster Society of Evil, a four-part mini-series recreating a classic serial from comic’s Golden Age. Between projects, Smith spends much of his time on the international guest circuit promoting comics and the art of graphic novels.
Born and raised in the American mid-west, Jeff Smith learned about cartooning from comic strips, comic books, and watching animation on TV. In 1991, he launched a company called Cartoon Books to publish his comic book BONE, a comedy/adventure about three lost cousins from Boneville. Against all odds, the small company flourished, building a reputation for quality stories and artwork. Word of mouth, critical acclaim, and a string of major awards helped propel Cartoon Books and BONE to the forefront of the comic book industry.
In 1992, Jeff’s wife Vijaya Iyer joined the company as partner to handle publishing and distribution, licensing, and foreign language publications. In the Spring of 2005, Harry Potter’s U.S. publisher Scholastic Inc. entered the graphic novel market by launching a new imprint, Graphix with a full color version of BONE: Out from Boneville, bringing the underground comic to a new audience and a new generation.
In 2007, DC Comics released Smith’s first non-creator owned work, SHAZAM! Monster Society of Evil, a four-part mini-series recreating a classic serial from comic’s Golden Age. Between projects, Smith spends much of his time on the international guest circuit promoting comics and the art of graphic novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 268 reviews
January 13, 2022
Smiley Bone takes some Bone children camping where they proceed to tell tall tales around the fire. It's fun. Only the first 40 pages or so are new. The rest is filled out with the main story from Bone: Stupid Stupid Rat-Tails. It features Big Johnson Bone visiting the Valley where he rides a tornado and beats up rat creatures. He's also the reason why rat creatures no longer have tails.
March 29, 2015
It was so good to be back, once more, in the Bones world. Really missed those fellas.
Great collection of short stories. Enjoyed them all, especially first one, 'cause it brought us back to the beginning. Only wish it was longer.
Great collection of short stories. Enjoyed them all, especially first one, 'cause it brought us back to the beginning. Only wish it was longer.
November 24, 2023
Una serie di storielle simpatiche per gli amanti di Bone. L'ultima, la più lunga, è anche quella che merita maggiormente attenzione perché più articolata e con una serie di trovate divertenti - su tutti il personaggio della scimmia.
Noto con piacere che Collodi fa scuola... O lui, o Luciano di Samosata.
Noto con piacere che Collodi fa scuola... O lui, o Luciano di Samosata.
December 17, 2021
The short stories were actually pretty cute. But they were overshadowed by the boring awfulness of Big Johnson Bone. It actually made Smiley seem pretty good. From an art point of view I think Bartleby is my favorite. This could have been worse.
August 12, 2019
3.5 stars - It was enjoyable but I did think Big Johnson Bone got a bit tiresome after a while.
October 23, 2010
Reason for Reading: This is a Cybils '10 nominee and required reading for me as a panelist.
I have never read a Bone book in my life before this. I actually have reading the series as one of my goals for next year. Fortunately, Tall Tales is a collection of short stories that happen before the events of the Bone series making them entirely readable for someone who hasn't a clue about the series itself.
The book, which calls itself a "Companion" to the series is set in the here and now as Smiley and Bartleby take the Bone Scouts camping. As they sit around the campfire, Smiley tells some rather Tall Tales about the early days. One involves Fone Bone and Phoney Bone in the days before Thorn was Queen and the rest are about Big Johnson Bone's early adventures. There are a total of four stories with a segue back at camp connecting them. The first three are indeed short stories, while the fourth one takes up almost the entire book with the main tale of Johnson Bone's adventure of how he subdued the terror of the rat creatures.
I absolutely loved this and cannot wait to read the other books now that I've had this sampling. Not having read Bone previously did not hamper my enjoyment of Tall Tales one iota and in fact I can recommend it as a way to check and see if you'll enjoy the humour of Bone, which is hilarious. I was snorting out loud as I read which is not something I do often, believe me! Completely entertaining, hilariously funny and a sure-fire winner for any comic reader.
I have never read a Bone book in my life before this. I actually have reading the series as one of my goals for next year. Fortunately, Tall Tales is a collection of short stories that happen before the events of the Bone series making them entirely readable for someone who hasn't a clue about the series itself.
The book, which calls itself a "Companion" to the series is set in the here and now as Smiley and Bartleby take the Bone Scouts camping. As they sit around the campfire, Smiley tells some rather Tall Tales about the early days. One involves Fone Bone and Phoney Bone in the days before Thorn was Queen and the rest are about Big Johnson Bone's early adventures. There are a total of four stories with a segue back at camp connecting them. The first three are indeed short stories, while the fourth one takes up almost the entire book with the main tale of Johnson Bone's adventure of how he subdued the terror of the rat creatures.
I absolutely loved this and cannot wait to read the other books now that I've had this sampling. Not having read Bone previously did not hamper my enjoyment of Tall Tales one iota and in fact I can recommend it as a way to check and see if you'll enjoy the humour of Bone, which is hilarious. I was snorting out loud as I read which is not something I do often, believe me! Completely entertaining, hilariously funny and a sure-fire winner for any comic reader.
July 12, 2015
Very solid. As funny as you'd expect of something from the Bone universe. Tall Tales is a collection of, well, tall tales, most of which take place before the main adventure and do not feature any of the cast you know and love if you read the series(minus the ones around the fire telling the tales). The stories are well done and entertaining and even give some insight into the main storyline. Sadly, though, this one didn't pack the same punch as the main series of books. I recommend it to other Bone fans, but just don't expect more of the same Magic Smith gave you over the course of the first 9 volumes.
May 28, 2019
This was good. Just a bunch of tales that might have some connection to the main Bone story line. I'm still not sure putting Smiley in charge of children is a good idea. But better than introducing another character that is greedy selfish and only cares about others by accident. Oh well. Otherwise a good book.
August 29, 2017
Some funny entertaiing stuff. Dfinitely more of a children's book than the rest of the Bone universe.
April 4, 2021
I finished this probably a week ago before realizing I’d never go entered it. It’s a fun series of stories about Big Johnson Bone and the origins of the Jekk and some early interactions between the Bone ancestors and the creatures of the valley. Coda somewhere noted the significance of the American tall tale structure in these particular stories, which I find endearing for its mostly colorblind orientation (the bone characters, while definitively white, have they subjective quality of simple emotive features that Scott McCloud discusses in Understanding Comics; also a rare moment where I’ll call it colorblind but I’m sure there’s a better way to describe it). Oddly feels like a great entry point for kids to the series.
November 19, 2025
Adding Tom Sniegoski on writing does not add to the series. The story and dialogue are clunkier than the main books.
Smiley takes some kids and his rat creature friend Barnabus on a camping trip and tells tall tales of Big Johnson Bone, who could ride a tornado and win an eating contest. The opening tales of his childhood are silly, but the big story, the most important story, of how the rat creatures lose their tails is long and annoying.
Some double entedres your kids hopefully won't get and plenty of gross bits.
Smiley takes some kids and his rat creature friend Barnabus on a camping trip and tells tall tales of Big Johnson Bone, who could ride a tornado and win an eating contest. The opening tales of his childhood are silly, but the big story, the most important story, of how the rat creatures lose their tails is long and annoying.
Some double entedres your kids hopefully won't get and plenty of gross bits.
March 9, 2021
2.5 stars. Bone: Tall Tales is not without its charm, but it is also not a necessary addition to the series. While fans may enjoy, Rose was a more interesting and worthy addition to the series than Tall Tales.
May 29, 2018
Another good book in the series 👍🏻
January 8, 2023
This was a cute little addition to the collection! Some fun and interesting stories in here that just added more to the lore of the bones.
April 7, 2025
Why would I want to read about a wanna-be Paul Bunyan
October 5, 2018
It was good
June 15, 2024
Earlier tales related to the world of Bone, in the same style as the original series, told by Smiley to the bone children.
April 27, 2019
ফোন বোন, ফোনি বোন, আর স্মাইলি বোনের অতিমানব (অতিবোনব, to be more precise) পূর্বপুরুষ বিগ জনসন বোনের গপ্পো। ঠিক যেন ঘনাদার মুখে কনকিস্তাদোরপ্যাঁদানো ষোড়শ শতকের বিটকেলপুরুষ ঘনরাম দাসের কাহিনী। উপভোগ্য।
February 29, 2020
ReRead 29 February 2020
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FINALLY done with Tall Tales. It wasn't a bad read, per se, but it felt . . . different from what I remembered of the original Bone, and not in a good way.
Whereas the original Bone series seemed transcendent of the Adult/Kid categories, this spin-off definitely felt like it was geared more towards kids. Which, I suppose, makes sense, as most libraries classify it as a Youth Graphic Novel.
But in doing so, I felt as if it lost some of the charm and flow that the original had. The morals come a little heavy-handed, being emphasized too much. The art too, is always lovely with Jeff Smith, but at times it felt a little stale.
I'm not disappointed by it. I liked the opening stories just fine. But I felt the last one, the meat and potatoes of the book, was a little too long. It's an origin story, sure, but it simultaneously felt too small and too large to adequately cover all of Big Johnson Bone's legacy.
Pick it up if you've read the Bone series already. It's a nifty little companion piece: I just wanted more from it.
---
FINALLY done with Tall Tales. It wasn't a bad read, per se, but it felt . . . different from what I remembered of the original Bone, and not in a good way.
Whereas the original Bone series seemed transcendent of the Adult/Kid categories, this spin-off definitely felt like it was geared more towards kids. Which, I suppose, makes sense, as most libraries classify it as a Youth Graphic Novel.
But in doing so, I felt as if it lost some of the charm and flow that the original had. The morals come a little heavy-handed, being emphasized too much. The art too, is always lovely with Jeff Smith, but at times it felt a little stale.
I'm not disappointed by it. I liked the opening stories just fine. But I felt the last one, the meat and potatoes of the book, was a little too long. It's an origin story, sure, but it simultaneously felt too small and too large to adequately cover all of Big Johnson Bone's legacy.
Pick it up if you've read the Bone series already. It's a nifty little companion piece: I just wanted more from it.
April 4, 2016
Smiley and Bartleby take the Bone Scouts camping and entertain the youngsters around the fire with some tall tales about a treasure hunt and the birth of Big Johnson Bone. One of the Bone Scouts then has dreams about the further adventures of Big Johnson Bone, how he lost an eating contest to a girl, survived a tornado ride, and freed a valley from the torments of the Rat Creatures.
There were moments when this was outright hilarious, and moments when I was rolling my eyes at Big Johnson Bone's big ego. A fun graphic novel with some good examples of typical tall tale elements.
Notes on content: One minor swear word. No sexual content. There's a skinned butt of a rat creature shown. Big Johnson Bone and everyone else are definitely 100% cartoon in that they go through things that should kill them, like getting eaten, riding a tornado, etc. and are ok. Some stomach juice grossness, tail chopping and a massive fart may turn off some readers (while thrilling others).
There were moments when this was outright hilarious, and moments when I was rolling my eyes at Big Johnson Bone's big ego. A fun graphic novel with some good examples of typical tall tale elements.
Notes on content: One minor swear word. No sexual content. There's a skinned butt of a rat creature shown. Big Johnson Bone and everyone else are definitely 100% cartoon in that they go through things that should kill them, like getting eaten, riding a tornado, etc. and are ok. Some stomach juice grossness, tail chopping and a massive fart may turn off some readers (while thrilling others).
November 6, 2012
it was a good book. it had two story's in it. the main thing is smiley from the graphic novels has a camp in the woods and three little bones and smiley tells story's about a old famous bone.
April 29, 2016
it is a really good book has a lot of story in it if you love books that have a lot of stories this is your book.It tells about all of the books and how they meet and that one book tells all about the other books and I think that was cool.
September 5, 2015
Not anywhere close to the standard set by the main series run. Lots of juvenile fart jokes and a sequence that is a direct rip off of Pinocchio. Pass.
September 26, 2016
Love it when little boy who take Smiley's hat and put it on. He get some dreaming as vision. Until to awoke and it happened in his dreams when Smiley tells them stories.
November 28, 2024
שני הסיפורים הראשונים הרבה יותר כיפיים מהשאר.
October 16, 2025
Uninspired, some material repeated elsewhere. But I will always read a Bone book, regardless...
August 24, 2025
This series strikes me as one big
That is, the impression I get is when the characters succeed, it isn't exactly from skill or competence, but some exact convergence of the one thing they're capable of doing and extreme luck. Big Johnson Bone in particular feels like he has gall going for him more than talent or knowhow.
Then again, it's called "Tall Tales," so exactly how much of it is true is in the air.
The first three tales are told by Smiley to the Bone Scouts* Ringo, Bingo, Todd, and Bartleby, and the last (and longest) one is dreamed by Todd:
1. Powers That Be
Basically a cautionary tale, where Phoney tries to get out of doing chores and gets . It's too bad Fone got dragged along, but perhaps because he's too nice to just leave Phoney to his own fate.
2. Baby Johnson Bone vs. Old Man Winter
I'm not familiar enough with the series to know anything about Big Johnson Bone, but luckily the rest of the book tells enough about him. This story is about how Old Man Winter stole Johnson away almost the instant he was born, but .
3. Big Johnson Bone vs. The Cobbler Gobbler
A story about a food-eating competition and also . It's funny, but also depressing in the way of the characters even jokingly can eat more food in a single day than entire towns would eat in a week, and where exactly is all this food coming from in a *frontier town*...?
Yes, it's comedy, but it's also a ridiculous amount of WASTE. (If you're eating twice your body weight every day, guess what ELSE you're doing every day!)
4. The Lost Tale of Big Johnson Bone
Todd dreams this after swiping Smiley's Big Hat and wearing it to sleep: A long (compared to the other Tall Tales) story about Big Johnson, his pack animal** Blossom, and a talking monkey he "won" after cheating in a card game, encountering the rat monsters, and , as foreshadowed by Bartleby's "tale"—more of an explanation, since "rat creatures aren't very good at telling stories."
It's an interesting, but probably better enjoyed as a fan of the series. Newcomers might be confused, but hard to say.
*The fact that "Bone" everything exists makes me think they are, literally, talking bones (femurs in specific), but that seems patently WEIRD. Even so, tagging "talking objects" for that reason.
**I suspect a donkey, but I also can't rule out I don't actually know if she's a "real" animal or a Bone-specific one
That is, the impression I get is when the characters succeed, it isn't exactly from skill or competence, but some exact convergence of the one thing they're capable of doing and extreme luck. Big Johnson Bone in particular feels like he has gall going for him more than talent or knowhow.
Then again, it's called "Tall Tales," so exactly how much of it is true is in the air.
The first three tales are told by Smiley to the Bone Scouts* Ringo, Bingo, Todd, and Bartleby, and the last (and longest) one is dreamed by Todd:
1. Powers That Be
Basically a cautionary tale, where Phoney tries to get out of doing chores and gets . It's too bad Fone got dragged along, but perhaps because he's too nice to just leave Phoney to his own fate.
2. Baby Johnson Bone vs. Old Man Winter
I'm not familiar enough with the series to know anything about Big Johnson Bone, but luckily the rest of the book tells enough about him. This story is about how Old Man Winter stole Johnson away almost the instant he was born, but .
3. Big Johnson Bone vs. The Cobbler Gobbler
A story about a food-eating competition and also . It's funny, but also depressing in the way of the characters even jokingly can eat more food in a single day than entire towns would eat in a week, and where exactly is all this food coming from in a *frontier town*...?
Yes, it's comedy, but it's also a ridiculous amount of WASTE. (If you're eating twice your body weight every day, guess what ELSE you're doing every day!)
4. The Lost Tale of Big Johnson Bone
Todd dreams this after swiping Smiley's Big Hat and wearing it to sleep: A long (compared to the other Tall Tales) story about Big Johnson, his pack animal** Blossom, and a talking monkey he "won" after cheating in a card game, encountering the rat monsters, and , as foreshadowed by Bartleby's "tale"—more of an explanation, since "rat creatures aren't very good at telling stories."
It's an interesting, but probably better enjoyed as a fan of the series. Newcomers might be confused, but hard to say.
*The fact that "Bone" everything exists makes me think they are, literally, talking bones (femurs in specific), but that seems patently WEIRD. Even so, tagging "talking objects" for that reason.
**I suspect a donkey, but I also can't rule out I don't actually know if she's a "real" animal or a Bone-specific one
July 18, 2017
Smiley has agreed to take the Bone Scouts and Bartleby camping…but you can’t have camping without stories by the fire. With the Bone Scouts and Bartleby as his enchanted listeners, Smiley tells them the tales of the adventurer Big Johnson Bone and his venture into the Big Valley long before Smiley, Fone, and Phoney found it. Big Johnson Bone’s encountered changed the course of the Valley and altered the lives of Rat Creatures forever!
Bone: Tall Tales is a compilation book which contains part of the series Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails #1-3 (December 1999-February 2000) by Tom Sniegoski in addition to new, original material by Jeff Smith. The standalone story was reprinted along with the color reprints of Bone by Scholastic.
I loved Bone, but I primarily liked the Bones. Both Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails and Rose were nice addendums to the series, but I always preferred to stick to the core storyline. Rereading Bone: Tall Tales reminds me why.
Bone: Tall Tales isn’t bad, but it also isn’t Bone. The story since it is short stories is rather fragmented and Big Johnson Bone just isn’t as compelling of a character as the cousins. Tom Sniegoski took the idea of American folklore like Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill and wrapped it up into the story.
I love the Rat Creatures so the story does have that going for it. It is kind of odd that Smith allowed Sniegoski to reveal the “secret origin” of his great creations, but I imagine he had a lot of say on how the story was scripted and presented. The loss of the tails due to Big Bone Johnson fits in with the folklore aspect of the story but still isn’t as fun as the original series.
Fortunately, Jeff Smith did provide the art for both the series and the story. I think Rose worked because of how the story evolved, but taking another artist for this story just wouldn’t have worked. The Bones feel like they belong to Smith even more so than some other comic creations…they’re design is simple, but Smith breathes so much life into them in his work.
If you are a fan of Bone or a parent who wants more Bone to read to their kid, this volume is a much more family friendly version than some of the later volumes of Bone itself. The story is for completionists but still provides a quick Bone fix for those who miss the characters…plus, it is nice to see that the characters moved on after they left the Valley.
Bone: Tall Tales is a compilation book which contains part of the series Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails #1-3 (December 1999-February 2000) by Tom Sniegoski in addition to new, original material by Jeff Smith. The standalone story was reprinted along with the color reprints of Bone by Scholastic.
I loved Bone, but I primarily liked the Bones. Both Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails and Rose were nice addendums to the series, but I always preferred to stick to the core storyline. Rereading Bone: Tall Tales reminds me why.
Bone: Tall Tales isn’t bad, but it also isn’t Bone. The story since it is short stories is rather fragmented and Big Johnson Bone just isn’t as compelling of a character as the cousins. Tom Sniegoski took the idea of American folklore like Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill and wrapped it up into the story.
I love the Rat Creatures so the story does have that going for it. It is kind of odd that Smith allowed Sniegoski to reveal the “secret origin” of his great creations, but I imagine he had a lot of say on how the story was scripted and presented. The loss of the tails due to Big Bone Johnson fits in with the folklore aspect of the story but still isn’t as fun as the original series.
Fortunately, Jeff Smith did provide the art for both the series and the story. I think Rose worked because of how the story evolved, but taking another artist for this story just wouldn’t have worked. The Bones feel like they belong to Smith even more so than some other comic creations…they’re design is simple, but Smith breathes so much life into them in his work.
If you are a fan of Bone or a parent who wants more Bone to read to their kid, this volume is a much more family friendly version than some of the later volumes of Bone itself. The story is for completionists but still provides a quick Bone fix for those who miss the characters…plus, it is nice to see that the characters moved on after they left the Valley.
November 15, 2022
Bone: Tall Tales by Jeff Smith (Cartoon Books)
My favorite run in all of comics. After all these years and rereads, the characters feel like family to me now. I couldn't wait to share them with my children.
From humble buildings, to a Scholastic juggernaut, this series won eleven (11) Eisner Awards and eleven (11) Harvey Awards. I own both the original black and white hardcover versions and the new Scholastic color versions. The series is divided into nine books making three distinct acts. The first two acts are some of the best in comics. The character interactions are so enjoyable. However, the series does get darker as it goes on, so by the third and final act, we are pretty deep into the world Smith built and we have lost most of the whimsy and charm that resonated so well at the beginning. However, Smith sticks the landing and he has endured as one of the most beloved independent creators in the medium. I met him years ago at a convention and he was gracious and sincere. I hope Netflix can get the animated series back under production. If you haven't read this series, what are you waiting for?
I loved the format of this hardcover. This is a popular size for kids books, however I thought the corners were more sharp than most of the similar books in its category. I was disappointed that Scholastic didn't print more this way. I agree with some of the other reviews that the short stories don't capture quite the same charm as the original story...but I'll take all I can get from Jeff Smith.
My favorite run in all of comics. After all these years and rereads, the characters feel like family to me now. I couldn't wait to share them with my children.
From humble buildings, to a Scholastic juggernaut, this series won eleven (11) Eisner Awards and eleven (11) Harvey Awards. I own both the original black and white hardcover versions and the new Scholastic color versions. The series is divided into nine books making three distinct acts. The first two acts are some of the best in comics. The character interactions are so enjoyable. However, the series does get darker as it goes on, so by the third and final act, we are pretty deep into the world Smith built and we have lost most of the whimsy and charm that resonated so well at the beginning. However, Smith sticks the landing and he has endured as one of the most beloved independent creators in the medium. I met him years ago at a convention and he was gracious and sincere. I hope Netflix can get the animated series back under production. If you haven't read this series, what are you waiting for?
I loved the format of this hardcover. This is a popular size for kids books, however I thought the corners were more sharp than most of the similar books in its category. I was disappointed that Scholastic didn't print more this way. I agree with some of the other reviews that the short stories don't capture quite the same charm as the original story...but I'll take all I can get from Jeff Smith.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 268 reviews