Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons

Animal by Animal

by Sara Levine, T.S. Spookytooth (Illustrator)

What would you be if your finger bones grew so long that they reached your feet? You'd be a bat! What if you had no leg bones but kept your arm bones? You'd be a whale, a dolphin, or a porpoise! This entertaining picture book will keep readers guessing as they learn about how our skeletons are like―and unlike―those of other animals. How are you similar to animals? How are you different? These entertaining picture books from educator and veterinarian Sara Levine and illustrator T.S Spookytooth explore comparative anatomy and give readers the chance to find out how their skeletons, teeth, and eyes match up with a wide variety of animals from the past and present. Packed with surprising animal facts that will delight readers of all ages!

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Childrens, Nature, Storytime

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Bhargavi Balachandran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply brilliant! I can see this becoming our favourite book

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many imaginative youngsters have probably wondered what humans would look like without their skeletons. This imaginative book allows them to consider what animal would have vertebrae that kept going past their rear end or had only two fingers on each hand and two toes on each foot. The book is fun to read, accompanied as it is with simple illustrations and simple but engaging text, and it gives readers' imaginations a work-out while also reining in the possibilities through science and facts about bones and vertebrae.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brief, but full of beginning information about bones. Interesting approach where pages begin with a ‘What if” question. For example, “What kind of animal would you be if you had really big vertebrae in your neck?” The illustration shows a young boy with a long neck that is held by large vertebrae, and the real answer is “a giraffe”. Answering the repeated questions helps to learn new things about an animal body, including the human animal. It’s quite a fascinating book.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

With a quiz-style narrative and humorous mixed media illustrations that depict the differences between human bone structure with that of various animals, this book is sure to inform and entertain children.

Myriad vertebrates and invertebrates are depicted, with the special features that distinguish each from another. Humans are also depicted with these special attributes, to add to the humor.

I have never heard of the illustrator, T.S. Spookytooth, before, but he has a really unusual and fun name. I read his biographical information on the book jacket flap at the back of the book and looked at his author's page here on Goodreads, but he's still quite a mystery. I am wondering if his pseudonym hides a more famous illustrator's identity...

Additional information about the functions of bones and types vertebrate animals as well as a glossary and a list of resources for 'further reading' are included at the end of the book.

A website from the publisher includes extra material, located at http://www.lerneresource.com. Overall, it's a fun book, a fast read, and I really enjoyed it.

[Monica Shellhamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bone by Bone is a great nonfiction book for people who love animals or are talking about animal diversity. I don’t particularly enjoy nonfiction stories on math and science because I feel that they really focus on the topics too much and the story is not enjoyable anymore. That is not the case with this book. Through this story, there are questions that help to keep students engaged and learning about the concepts covered in the story. The pictures that go along with the story are amazing as well. With each new feature that is added to the different bone structures, the human characters change to match what they are talking about. One example of this is when they talk about giraffes in the book. First it asks what animal has vertebrae in their neck. On the same page, it has a picture of a child with a long neck just like a giraffe. I know that the students I work with now would absolutely LOVE hearing this book and would laugh at all the funny pictures.

[Nevada Libert · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book what would your body be with out bones or if you had a tell or bones missing.fun what if book about bones.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish I had found this one in 2014. Glad I finally got my hands on it. Love the first two lines:
Have you ever wondered what we would look like if we didn't have any bones? It wouldn't be pretty.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A children's book on comparative skeletal anatomy. That is super informative and entertaining. No, I can't believe it either. I LOVE THIS BOOK.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dad and mom rates this 5 stars, Ellie 3 stars, Jacob 2 stars (Jacob wanted to play with dad instead of reading which probably skewed his rating).

[Kermit · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7 stars

Fun illustrations and engaging content about vertebrates.

[Karla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the format- text varied and was engaging. Colorful illustrations. The text a bot long but GREAT comparisons

[Paige Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an informational book on how vertebrae are formed and structured and the different skeletal systems of animals, also including us humans! This book has an informative yet engaging style of writing by taking what most people know of, bones and their body structures, and expanding off that to show different types of skeletal systems and how they all work. As well as gives new vocabulary and terms for the skeletal system. This provides new concepts by asking questions on each page, "if you didn't have bones in your arms and legs, but just your torso, what would you be?" and then you turn the page, and it shows how a snake's skeleton is like that. By bridging these questions and silly sentenced theories children learn of the animals associated with them. After reading this book, you can have a variety of activities that relate to skeletal systems, bones, and animals. For example, you could set up different animal bones either realistic looking ones or cut out pictures and have children do a matching game.The illustrations are accurate yet child friendly and add to the informative text. I think this is such a fun and informative book that all kids will be engaged with and love learning about! Children love and know their animals, and this provides more knowledge for them!

[Jessica Copley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons is a nonfiction picture book written by veterinarian and assistant professor of biology, Sara Levine. In this book, she writes as a visible author, posing questions that may be asked by curious children, and responding with friendly, humorous, informative answers. What I love about this book is that it is written in such a way that is both understandable and appealing, and rather than lecturing the reader about the results of scientific inquiry, she encourages readers to connect with the content and think deeply about it in a way that is more active.
In the classroom, Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons, would be perfect for a science lesson on vertebrates and invertebrates. Further, a cross-curricular connection could be made to English Language Arts with a lesson on text features in informational texts.
Teaching Idea: After researching a topic of interest, have students guide their peers in learning about this topic by raising interesting questions and answering them as Sara Levine does in this book.

[Amari Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cute book. As a reader, I really enjoyed the illustrations. They were neat and easy to identify. On every page the picture of animal bones were compared to a similar image that helped identify and remember the animal bone. As a college student, I received a lot of new information about bones. Throughout the book it mentions random questions similar to what students may ask. These were helpful as a reader because as I read a new fact, I also wondered the same questions! As a teacher this would be a great book to read in upper elementary during halloween. It easy to stray away from skeletons in the lower grades because they can be scary for some children but this would be a great way to incorporate skeletons into a 5th grade lesson! The back of the book includes a glossary and more information about vertebrae, this is great for independent reading. You could include this in your classroom library during October for a fun and educational skeleton book!

[Kimberly Espinoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such an amazing children's book! I loved everything about this book. I think it was great how this book demonstrated lots of pictures and information about bones and animals. I thought it was neat how it showed what it would be like without bones or with less bones. It gave a great example for children who read this in a classroom.

In my future classroom I plan to read this when I am introducing bones and vertebrates to my students. I think it is a great example of how bones work and how they don't especially for students younger who need lots of pictures for demonstrations. This book had just the right pictures that showed what kind of animal would be if some didn't have the bones we have or etc. There were many examples in such a short book. I really enjoyed this book!

[Chloe Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great book! Even at my age, I learned a few things I did not know about animal skeletons. It had a great range of different animals and a touch about humans as well. I like how the books compared each animal to one another and also mentioned the major bones that all humans and most animals have. Transitioning from one animal to another by taking away and adding bones was a great way to portray this information.
As a teacher, this would be an amazing book for us to read when learning about the skeletal structure of animals. I would read this book aloud with the class. Following our reading, we could discuss the different types of bones that each animal had and did not have, and in what was this effected them, whether it be positive or negative.

[Reagin Kenney]

This book is so interesting! It's very informative in many many ways. It talks about vertebrates and invertebrates. It explains the exact differences in our bone structure compared to other vertebrates bone structures. It also talks about what animals do not have bones. Overall it is a very informative and easy to read book.

From a teachers point of view this would be great to use in the classroom. Especially if you're content standard was about animals and their physical attributes. It's easy enough for upper elementary students to read, but would also be great read aloud for any age student. The illustrations are very detailed as well, therefore lower elementary students may understand it well also.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for books on comparative anatomy in my e-library and stumbled across this book for children. It's actually really good - it asks the reader to guess what kind of animal you'd be if...(for example, if you had really big vertebrae in your neck).

Often the illustrations give you a good hint, but also I could draw on my knowledge from the much more disturbingly-illustrated Japanese book 51770435 which I see that I haven't marked as read because I haven't painstakingly read the Japanese, but I have flipped through the pictures and more or less grokked it. Anyway I think it's good for kids (and adults!) to exercise their own knowledge of animals/logic/imagination.

Marking this as a possible gift for a kid in my life in a few years!

[Lindsey Wingfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: Very informational. I gave it 4 stars because it has a lot of description and artistic elements that help explain what they are talking about. However, they put a lot on one page, so I feel as if it might be hard for students to focus on what you are talking about.


Summary: It introduces vertebrates, and what they help us do vs what they help animals to do. Then talks about bones and what we would look like without vs what kind of animal only has a vertebrate. Then goes down to fingers and toes and compares some animals to us. Talks lastly about invertebrates and how we would look.

[Allison Helms]

I love this book! The illustrations are so cool, and it is a fun way to demonstrate the different ways animals are created. The descriptions are easy to understand, and the content is true and presented in an interesting way. It would definitely cause students to ask questions and be curious about how animals are different. As a future teacher, I would use this as an introduction to a unit on bones or vertebrate/invertebrate animals, or just to give my students a different novel to read. Nonfiction can often be a little difficult to understand and not interesting, but this book is very helpful and very useful in a classroom setting. I love it!

[Hannah Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons is a fun and interactive book. The book asks questions like, “What would you look like if you didn’t have any leg bones?” and compares our skeletons to different animal skeletons. I liked how engaging the book was and it had me constantly guessing what the next animal would be.
As a future teacher, I would use this book as a hook to introduce a lesson on bones or animals. Students could compare skeletons and guess which animal a bone belongs to. It is also good inferencing practice. This book is great for the classroom and to connect science and literature.

[Meagan Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wonder what you would look like if you did not have bones, or if you had different sets of bones? The illustrations within this book will allow students to see the purpose for our bones, and why animals have different bones than we do. This book is a great use within the classroom to relate it to a science lesson in regards to mammals and reptiles. The information delivered in this book about bones, can allow students to discuss amongst each other why animals have different sets of bones, and discuss what we would look like with extra vertebrates.

[Mary Beth Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is exactly what the Title says, Comparing Animal Skeletons. It is very informative and would be great for children who are age 7-10. The Author ask questions such as "what would you be if you didn't have any arms or legs?" As a vertebrate that would be a snake. I believe children would love reading this non-fiction book.

As a teacher Bone to Bone would be excellent to introduce a unit on our skeletal system. The book also has great vocabulary and questioning for English Language Arts lessons.

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons (Hardcover)
by Sara C. Levine
This is a wonderful story for teaching children what nonfiction and fiction is. used this book in a first grade classroom. The detailed information about skeletons and the questions that made them make the kids really interact with the book. But the fact that the pictures are drawn make the kids conciser it as a fiction story. in someways it helps the kids really try to make a precise plan to organizing books.

[Destiny Deaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

One thing that I really loved about this book is that it would start with questions such as, “what if...?” I know that I was always curious when I was younger about what bones looked like in certain animals and in people. This book did a great job showing/describing bones in all different types of animals. It had great beginners knowledge and facts to share. Great book to use when starting the basics on animals.

[Makiyah Cheeks]

Bone by Bone, was a great book with cool pictures and it taught me a lot about bones and animals! I believe Bone by Bone is a good book for children trying to learn about invertebrates, vertebrates, and even what a opposable thumbs are! The book did a fantastic job comparing the different bones and explaining the different animals. I would use this in my class room as a “hook” to start off a lesson about bones!

[Trinity Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is informational yet entertaining. The book, Bone by Bone, does a good job at keeping the reader interested about what is on the next page. The pages are full of information about the different bones animals have compared to humans. Most pages start by the question "What if" and i think that questions helps a lot of students relate their prior knowledge of bones to new information they are learning.

[Katherine Smallwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons is a good book for all ages. The boys in the class will love it more since it is talking about different bones and skeletons in different animals. I liked how each page was a different animal and show how their skeletons lay out. It is an easy read for students to read if they need to pass time. I would have this in my classroom, because it is a picture book, but it also teaches about different animals.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book about bones! I can definitely see that I'll be reading this one over and over with my g'littles. I liked how the book asks "what if" questions to help the reader (children) to understand how bones and skeletons are different between animals. The questions help to explain the need for bones for their specific life activities. I think the approach provokes thinking and curiosity. And the illustrations are great! Lovely, educational book!

[Leigh Gaddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for an anatomy/skeletal non-fiction picture book, then THIS is the the one you want! My 6 and 3 year old were enthralled by this! It's written to help your child understand their bones in relationship to other's skeletal structure and it's done VERY well.

I did not expect to be impressed and totally was - pick this one up!