Bone Handbook 1st (first) by Smith, Jeff (2010) Paperback

by Jeff Smith

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. This is the ultimate handbook for every BONE fan! Includes character profiles, a timeline of events, interviews with creator Jeff Smith and colorist Steve Hamaker, a showcase of cover art from the original BONE editions, and other fun stuff!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Middle Grade

Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Librarian 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.

Reviews

[Mario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice handbook! I especially enjoyed short comics and fun facts about the series.

It's not a must read and it doesn't add anything important to main plot, but if you're a fan, why not?

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bone Handbook
By Jeff Smith
123 Pages

The Bone Handbook is a short book about everything you need to know about the Bone series. It gives you a brief description of each character, the plot of each volume of the book and other fun facts you may not know. There are interviews as well as the inspirations behind to characters and the stories. I thought the book was quite interesting because not only did it have all the things mentioned before but it had fun facts randomly placed throughout the book, for example did you know Jeff Smith drew the last page of the last book before he drew anything else? It has inspired me to try out some of the Bone books, so if you want a brief history of the Bones and other fun facts, you should give the Bone Handbook a try!

[Eden Silverfox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the handbook for the Bone series by Jeff Smith. It starts from the beginning, which is when Jeff was a kid and drawing the Bone cousins even then, to when he self-published the comics and when they were republished by Scholastic with color. There are interviews, character profiles, fun facts and more.

It was a really nice book. I love the Bone series and the handbook is nice way for a quick revisit to the world of Bone.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bone Handbook is a guide to the Bone comics by Jeff Smith. Before reading this Handbook, I had not read any of the books in the series so I virtually knew nothing about it. The handbook included lots relevant character and story information and after finishing it I had a general knowledge of the characters and how the story would progress. Also included is more about creator Jeff Smith and how the Bone comics came to be, interviews with both Jeff Smith and colorist Steve Hamaker and lots of colorful artwork throughout. Overall this handbook introduced the series to me nicely.

[Jose Ayala · Rating 2 out of 5]

the book is so cool and it tells you how the book was made and how they tried to make the people.Also I did not like it that much because it does not talk to much about the background. It is not funny that much.

[Jennifer Wardrip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

Are you a fan of BONE or new to the comics? Either way, there will be something in BONE HANDBOOK that will be of interest to you.

If you are just starting with Book 1 of the series, the BONE HANDBOOK gives readers a brief background of the story and how it evolves. It explains how Fone, Phoney, and Smiley Bone get run out of Boneville and wind up on their various adventures. If you have been into the series from the beginning, it gives more explanations on the extended characters and how the Bones interact with them all.

With lots of colorful artwork, and an interview with the creator, Jeff Smith, there is so much to absorb in the BONE HANDBOOK. To properly digest everything, the reader needs to set aside some quiet time and curl up with this book.

If you were like me, prior to reading the BONE HANDBOOK, I could pick out the characters in a line-up but was unfamiliar with the background or storyline of Fone Bone and gang. Now, after reading this enjoyable handbook, I am eager to pick up Book 1 in the series and see the adventures that they get into.

As an added treat to this book, there is a brief comic included in three parts, THE KITE. If this is a taste of the rest of the series, I know I will enjoy the humor of Mr. Smith.

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bone Handbook by Jeff Smith is a 123 page graphic novel covering the making of the Bone series. I figured that if I wanted to try reading the Bone books, I might as well start with the handbook. The handbook covers the making of the antagonists, protagonists, and many other facts of the series. I learnt a few pointless facts about the series, and wasn't really entertained. I didn't learn anything of use, and after a few pages, I could tell that it would've been a better idea to actually read the series before I got started on the handbook. I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody unless you've read the Bone series and really enjoyed it. The book was a little bit bland, and I was hoping for some insight on whether or not to read the first book in the series. I wasn't expecting to be highly entertained, but I was hoping for something more than facts about the author and how the story was made.

[David Edmonds · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bone Handbook is just what it sounds like, a source book of information concerning Jeff Smith's Bone. Printed as a companion to the Graphix/Scholastic reprints of the series, it is written in a slightly juvenile fashion, but that's because the Graphix/Scholastic versions have been marketed towards a younger audience. It still makes for a good refresher on what happens in the series and who the characters are. It's a really quick read, but fun all the same. If you are a fan of the Bone series, I'd say you'd probably enjoy this, just as a reminder of what went on in the series. It is a little spoiler-filled, so if you haven't read the series yet, be warned that this will give some of it away.

[Thebruce1314 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I resisted buying this when Bone was the latest craze, because I sort of thought it was just a money-grab. Turns out I was right. It's nicely illustrated - with pictures from the series. And it has an original comic in it - which is about six pages long. Oh, and it comes with a rat creature paper craft, so there's that.
Mostly it consists of synopses of the 9 Bone volumes (which you don't really need if you've read the books), and character summaries (see above).
I'll keep it with my collection, because I got it in a mystery bag of books for less than $1, but I'm sure glad that I didn't pay full price for it.

[Fran · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun fact: Did you know that this is mostly just pages of plot recap and character summaries?

Well, it is. There's also a couple of interesting interviews in here, a nicely drawn map of the valley, and a couple of very short stories. Overall, it's really not worth bothering with unless you're a massive fan or an obsessive completest.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Do not start with this book if you are new to the Bone series. It contains spoilers from the prequel and books 1-9. It is a good resource as a reminder of the who's, what's, and the where's. There is a short comic included along with interviews and a load of interesting "fun facts."

This book carries some importance to die hard fans of Bone but pales in comparison to the series itself.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

GREAT book for those who wondered what BONE was all about (though don't read this before you've read the books unless you enjoy spoilers).

Also a great reference for world builders and writers who want to paint a broad swathe of a story, if only because Smith explains himself very well herein.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A summary and compendium of a comic series I have heard about, but haven't yet read. Not bad as an introduction, but probably better read after the comic itself.

[Mark Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some not great short stories with character and chapter summaries we already knew about. Maybe a good place to start for the new reader, but otherwise forgettable. Looking forward to "Rose" next.

[BCPL Youth Services Librarian]

Click to see book in BCPL's online catalog

[NewFranklin School]

I like this book because it tells you about the characters and parts of all the bone books.

[Andre · Rating 2 out of 5]

A reference book about Bones that looks nice but adds very little.

[Owen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow-it seemed like I knew EVERYTHING!

[Michael Nudell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book is awsome

[Robert Hudder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just to be a completist. There was some insight but nothing that requires you to buy this book.

[Josiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Francis Cuncich · Rating 5 out of 5]

~ Fantastic & I really enjoyed the guest artist portion in the rear of the book ~

[Ruth]

cool

[Drizztl · Rating 3 out of 5]

6.5/10

[Leonard]

I like the handbook, but i am suprised thorne is the hardest to draw.

[Comics Appreciation Project · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 agree with some of the other reviews that it isn't a must read but the short stories are fun and fit well with the rest of the Scholastic books on the shelf.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extras book. I didn't like the series all that much so I wasn't expecting much from this. But actually it was pretty good. There was good writing in general. And the little comics stories interweaved actually worked pretty wells. I also appreciated the bits of the process. The summaries of each of the stories bogged down a bit, but not too much. Definitely one of my favorites books of the series. 3.5 of 5.

[Eduardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

So last year I read “Bone.” It was excellent, and I think you should all read it as soon as you can. I thought about going back to that world, and someday I will, when I read the prequel. But this is not a story as much as a guide and behind-the-scenes extra (though there is a short three-part comic about Phoney flying a kite).

There’s not too much to say here: there’s a character guide, a glossary of terms, and a summary of every chapter of the story. More interestingly, there is some behind-the-scenes info. If you wondered about Smith’s career, where he got the idea for “Bone,” or what the process of it being colored was like. It’s all good information.

It makes me want to read “Bone” again, though I should probably read some more new books before I get back to it.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is essentially just a synopsis of all the Bones books with a little bit of this & that added. The one interesting part was crediting Jeff Smith’s influences; I caught many of them but not all. For younger readers who might not be familiar with all the books & older comics, this could open the door for further exploration.