The Bone Keeper

by Megan McDonald, G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)

The language of the telling rustles like dry grasses, crackles like bones shifting in the windblown sands. Emerging from it, the Bone Woman herself, bent over her stick like an arch of stone, searches this way and that across the wide, scoured distances outside her cave. On the ground, she's assembled the bones she needs, all but "that tiny piece at the tip of the tip of the tail." That one is still unfound. She looks further. Finally triumphant, she "dances with one side of her body, waits with the other." Yet it is a while before her creation stirs, shakes itself, stands. What will it be? A wolf. The paintings powerfully suggest the Bone Woman's intent, her dramatic context, her nature as crone. Inspired by creation myths from many desert cultures, words and artwork (some of which appears to be made of bone itself, or of bronze) cast an indelible spell.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 1999

About the author

"Sometimes I think I am Judy Moody," says Megan McDonald, author of the Judy Moody series, the Stink series, and THE SISTERS CLUB. "I'm certainly moody, like she is. Judy has a strong voice and always speaks up for herself. I like that."

For Megan McDonald, being able to speak up for herself wasn't always easy. She grew up as the youngest of five sisters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her father, an ironworker, was known to his coworkers as "Little Johnny the Storyteller." Every evening at dinner the McDonalds would gather to talk and tell stories, but Megan McDonald was barely able to get a word in edgewise. "I'm told I began to stutter," she says, leading her mother to give her a notebook so she could start "writing things down."


Critically acclaimed, the Judy Moody books have won numerous awards, ranging from a PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Best Book of the Year to an International Reading Association Children's Choice. "Judy has taken on a life of her own," the author notes, with nearly 3 million Judy Moody books in print. Interestingly, the feisty third-grader is highly popular with boys and girls, making for a strong base of fans who are among Megan McDonald's strongest incentives to keep writing, along with "too many ideas and a little chocolate." And now -- by popular demand -- Judy Moody's little brother, Stink, gets his chance to star in his own adventures! Beginning with STINK: THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING KID, three more stories, and his own encyclopedia, STINK-O-PEDIA, Stink's special style comes through loud and strong -- enhanced by a series of comic strips, drawn by Stink himself, which are sprinkled throughout the first book. About the need for a book all about Stink, Megan McDonald says, "Once, while I was visiting a class full of Judy Moody readers, the kids, many with spiked hair à la Judy's little brother, chanted, 'Stink! Stink! Stink! Stink! Stink!' as I entered the room. In that moment, I knew that Stink had to have a book all his own."


More recently, Megan McDonald has recalled some of her own childhood with the warmth, humor -- and squabbles -- of three spunky sisters in THE SISTERS CLUB.


Megan McDonald and her husband live in Sebastopol, California, with two dogs, two adopted horses, and fifteen wild turkeys that like to hang out on their back porch.

Reviews

[Mel Raschke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizarre picture book

[Lolo Onda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute book! My class of 3rd and 4th graders loved it. I really enjoyed the subtle illustrations and I was surprised how much my students did too!

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bone Keeper by Megan McDonald and paintings by Brian Karas is very mysterious book. This book is a work of art. It makes the reader feel anxious, creepy, and mysterious through its poem-like writing and dessert-dwelling paintings. One aspect I love about this book is the author's ability to use interesting and unique similies and metaphors. "Her hands are withered like some ancient oracle."
I would recommend this book for 3rd grade and up for its content and occasional advanced vocabulary words. From start to finish this book remains mysterious and leaves the reader with a slightly eerie feeling.

[Joannafrndak]

The Bone Keeper is a wonderful, wild, and rhythmic work of fiction that is inspired from creation myths from the native plains people. The story touches on Native American folklore and myths that give explanations for the vast deserts, as well as offering thoughts on the afterlife and life origins. The story is whimsical, beautifully illustrated, and inspires thought and creativity in the reader. The Bone Keeper is dark, yet still appropriate for young readers.
Children at early as first grade would enjoy this story and it's rhythmic flow.