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Funnybones
Funnybones: The Pet Shop: A Funnybones Story
In a dark dark streetThere is a dark dark house . . .In this FUNNYBONES story, the big skeleton and the little skeleton are fed up with the dog skeleton and decide to swap him at the pet shop. They start off with a goldfish but soon get tired of him and swap him for a parrot - but soon they get bored of him too . . . Eventually the pet shop owner gives them a box to take home with a surprise pet inside. What do you think it will be?
32 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1990
7 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Allan Ahlberg
312 books174 followersAllan Ahlberg was one of the UK's most acclaimed and successful authors of children's books - including the best-selling Jolly Postman series. Born in Croydon in 1938, he was educated at Sunderland Technical College. Although he dreamed of becoming a writer since the age of twelve, his route to that goal was somewhat circuitous. Other jobs along the way included postman (not an especially jolly one, he recalls), gravedigger, plumber, and teacher.
Ahlberg wrote his first book when he was thirty-seven, after a decade of teaching - a profession that he maintains is "much harder" than being a writer. He says that if he hadn't become a writer, he would have loved to be a soccer player. He was married for many years to fellow children's author Janet Ahlberg, with whom he often worked. Their daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, is also a children's author.
Ahlberg wrote his first book when he was thirty-seven, after a decade of teaching - a profession that he maintains is "much harder" than being a writer. He says that if he hadn't become a writer, he would have loved to be a soccer player. He was married for many years to fellow children's author Janet Ahlberg, with whom he often worked. Their daughter, Jessica Ahlberg, is also a children's author.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 18, 2020
An unusual family read but still good
November 30, 2020
A simple story about the Funnybones family searching for a new pet
March 11, 2017
This is one of the Funnybones series of books. My younger sister loved these when we were children and my daughter loves them now. This is one of the weaker entries in the series as far as I'm concerned, but my daughter loves that it features pets.
The original book is something I almost consider a must read in childhood.
The original book is something I almost consider a must read in childhood.
October 10, 2019
A story about the adventure of two skeletons who are trying to find the ‘perfect’ pet for them. Great use of onomatopoeia and the clear pictures help the reader to have a clear image of the story.
March 7, 2017
"The Pet Shop" by Allan Ahlberg tells the tale of two skeletons who continuously make trips to the pet shop to trade their pets for new ones that they perceive to be better than the last.
Ahlberg's history of writing children's books dates back to the mid 1970's when much of his written work was in collaboration to his wife's illustrations. "The Pet Shop" is a work of Ahlberg's from 1990 that is part of a series of children's books entitled "Funnybones", featuring the same two skeletons as the main characters. The series, though sometimes written alongside his wife, is illustrated by Andre Amstutz - as is with "The Pet Shop", which is not noted as a collaborative work with his wife.
The story is told in an interesting way: third person narrative is the primary mode of narration, but the text also contains the incorporation of animal sounds and interruptive noises midtext, creating a more immersive experience than typical of third person narrative. The story is also told through the illustrations, both mirroring the text and deriving from it. For example, when the two skeletons arrive at the pet shop for the second time, the text describes the skeletons trading their goldfish for a parrot with the simple sentence of "The big skeleton and the little skeleton swap the goldfish - Bubble, bubble! - skeleton... for a parrot". The illustrations depict this scene by showing the two skeletons looking at the parrot while one holds the goldfish, linking it to the text. However, the illustrations of the skeletons also contain speech bubbles in which one of the skeletons is saying "Can he talk?", deriving from the content of the written text of the story. The use of language in the narrative is an incorporation of simple words structured in more complex sentences - differing from many of his other written works which use much simpler structure of words and sentences. Though the words are not written in a rhyming pattern, it can be read in a poetic way because of its use of repeating words and onomatopoeia.
The book also follows some of the picturebook codes - in particular, its use of color and the framing of the text and illustration. The colors of the book tell a great deal about the tone of the story. The background is almost always entirely black, save for a few depictions of green fencing, implying the intended spooky nature of the story - what with its portrayal of skeletons as characters and use of language ("In a dark, dark... street there is a dark, dark... house"). Contrasting to this dark element and black background is the use of bright, vivid colors in the depiction of foreground, objects, and speech bubbles. The colors create a much more playful atmosphere than the dark background implies, correlating with the seemingly-failed narrative of a spooky story, instead offering humor and ironies. The framing of the book also correlates to the way in which the story is told. Much of the story (text and illustration) is framed into colorful outlines of boxes, indicating a sense of disconnect between the story and the reader. However, the frame is broken on various occasions, particularly when something loud or exciting happens. For example, when the skeletons bring home a parrot, the frame is broken by the various speech bubbles of the parrot, indicating loud and persistent noises, as opposed to noises that fit nicely within the frame. On some pages there is no frame at all; the illustrations bleed beyond the doublespread pages. This lack of framing is often present in scenes which depict large or mass quanities of pets that the skeletons adopt. For example, the doublespread bleed is present when the skeletons adopt a hippo, displaying its hugeness in the way it is illustrated as taking up the entire two pages.
The story ends when the two skeletons return their final pet and are given their original pet in return (a dog skeleton) by the shop owner. The final illustration (within the story) is of the dog sitting in the open box and being patted on the head by one of the skeletons, implying an acceptance or love for the animal that they had not originally had when the story began. Because of this ending, it would appear that Ahlberg intended to teach the moral lesson of satisfaction for what one has, rather than dissatisfaction and the desire to possess something more or different.
Ahlberg's history of writing children's books dates back to the mid 1970's when much of his written work was in collaboration to his wife's illustrations. "The Pet Shop" is a work of Ahlberg's from 1990 that is part of a series of children's books entitled "Funnybones", featuring the same two skeletons as the main characters. The series, though sometimes written alongside his wife, is illustrated by Andre Amstutz - as is with "The Pet Shop", which is not noted as a collaborative work with his wife.
The story is told in an interesting way: third person narrative is the primary mode of narration, but the text also contains the incorporation of animal sounds and interruptive noises midtext, creating a more immersive experience than typical of third person narrative. The story is also told through the illustrations, both mirroring the text and deriving from it. For example, when the two skeletons arrive at the pet shop for the second time, the text describes the skeletons trading their goldfish for a parrot with the simple sentence of "The big skeleton and the little skeleton swap the goldfish - Bubble, bubble! - skeleton... for a parrot". The illustrations depict this scene by showing the two skeletons looking at the parrot while one holds the goldfish, linking it to the text. However, the illustrations of the skeletons also contain speech bubbles in which one of the skeletons is saying "Can he talk?", deriving from the content of the written text of the story. The use of language in the narrative is an incorporation of simple words structured in more complex sentences - differing from many of his other written works which use much simpler structure of words and sentences. Though the words are not written in a rhyming pattern, it can be read in a poetic way because of its use of repeating words and onomatopoeia.
The book also follows some of the picturebook codes - in particular, its use of color and the framing of the text and illustration. The colors of the book tell a great deal about the tone of the story. The background is almost always entirely black, save for a few depictions of green fencing, implying the intended spooky nature of the story - what with its portrayal of skeletons as characters and use of language ("In a dark, dark... street there is a dark, dark... house"). Contrasting to this dark element and black background is the use of bright, vivid colors in the depiction of foreground, objects, and speech bubbles. The colors create a much more playful atmosphere than the dark background implies, correlating with the seemingly-failed narrative of a spooky story, instead offering humor and ironies. The framing of the book also correlates to the way in which the story is told. Much of the story (text and illustration) is framed into colorful outlines of boxes, indicating a sense of disconnect between the story and the reader. However, the frame is broken on various occasions, particularly when something loud or exciting happens. For example, when the skeletons bring home a parrot, the frame is broken by the various speech bubbles of the parrot, indicating loud and persistent noises, as opposed to noises that fit nicely within the frame. On some pages there is no frame at all; the illustrations bleed beyond the doublespread pages. This lack of framing is often present in scenes which depict large or mass quanities of pets that the skeletons adopt. For example, the doublespread bleed is present when the skeletons adopt a hippo, displaying its hugeness in the way it is illustrated as taking up the entire two pages.
The story ends when the two skeletons return their final pet and are given their original pet in return (a dog skeleton) by the shop owner. The final illustration (within the story) is of the dog sitting in the open box and being patted on the head by one of the skeletons, implying an acceptance or love for the animal that they had not originally had when the story began. Because of this ending, it would appear that Ahlberg intended to teach the moral lesson of satisfaction for what one has, rather than dissatisfaction and the desire to possess something more or different.
November 27, 2025
Allan Ahlberg's The Pet Shop is a perfect example of how people need to manage their expectations. These skeletons think their dog is a bad pet, but as they continuously return to the pet shop to swap out each pet for a new one, they quickly learn that it is not as a easy as itn seems to pick the perfect pet. Any oet you get is going to be a lot of work, so it is important to find the one that is going to fit within your family the best.
The biggest downside to this sorry is because it makes it seem like it's okay to just keep taking pets back to a pet shop or a pet store. This is not the best example to teach little ones. Picking an animal should be a thoughtful process with the knowledge it's going to be hard work, which isn't shown here in the best way.
Other than that, this was an enjoyable read, and I am sure littles will enjoy it too.
The biggest downside to this sorry is because it makes it seem like it's okay to just keep taking pets back to a pet shop or a pet store. This is not the best example to teach little ones. Picking an animal should be a thoughtful process with the knowledge it's going to be hard work, which isn't shown here in the best way.
Other than that, this was an enjoyable read, and I am sure littles will enjoy it too.
January 19, 2019
When the skeleton dog barks too much, the little skeleton and the big skeleton decide to take him back to the pet shop and exchange him for a different pet. Cue a montage of different skeleton animals parading across the pages as the skeletons try a variety of different animals, searching for their perfect pet.
One of the strongest installments in the Funnybones series. I had a lot of fun making all the different animal noises, especially the rude parrot!
One of the strongest installments in the Funnybones series. I had a lot of fun making all the different animal noises, especially the rude parrot!
November 13, 2020
So, while this book has the potential to be silly/funny I feel it just does a horrible job for pet-ownership, the portrayal that you can just take the pet back to the petshop and switch it out for another. It makes me sad, and I know it is just a kids book, but still for me it was just a little bit obnoxious and sad.
January 24, 2018
My little boy loved this one. He liked naming all the skeleton animals and guessing what was in the box at the end.
I enjoyed sharing this with him as it reminds me of my childhood and loving Funnybones.
I enjoyed sharing this with him as it reminds me of my childhood and loving Funnybones.
July 9, 2021
Never knew that FunnyBones was a series. As I read the original book in the 1980s .now 2021. Iv found other books from the series. Good little book. Carry’s on the theme of dark dark house ext... fun little book.
December 10, 2021
This book is fantastic - my 2 year old son absolutely loves it and wants it over and over again. Many of the sentences get interrupted by animal noises, and it always elicits a laugh - especially the parrot who says "Big Bum!". This will be one of the books treasured forever by my kids I'm sure!
June 7, 2018
Rec - Year 1
Lovely illustrations and story. Children might find it funny. Skeletons want to find the perfect pet.
Lovely illustrations and story. Children might find it funny. Skeletons want to find the perfect pet.
September 8, 2021
Great for Science and introducing body and the bones to children.
February 17, 2016
Allan Ahlberg has created such a fantastic book where skeletons live in a dark dark cellar and they go on adventures through the night. Brilliantly lighthearted, it brings joy laughter and you can re-read the story for absolutely ages! Illustrations are gorgeous and although it is the night and skeletons are meant to be scary they are depicted as being friendly and fun.
The story has the same opening and closing sentences, 'In a dark dark town, there was a dark dark street...' which is beautifully put together as it ties the whole story together. The whole scenery and opening/closing of the story are greatly oxymoronic against the very uplifting and light-hearted tale.
A real page turner, Allan Ahlberg has made these stories accessible and enjoyable for everyone!
The story has the same opening and closing sentences, 'In a dark dark town, there was a dark dark street...' which is beautifully put together as it ties the whole story together. The whole scenery and opening/closing of the story are greatly oxymoronic against the very uplifting and light-hearted tale.
A real page turner, Allan Ahlberg has made these stories accessible and enjoyable for everyone!
February 18, 2013
The funnybones skeletons get a pet, but then want to swop it for a better one at the pet shop.
September 5, 2019
Funny, silly pet swapping antics. Fab illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews