Bonaparte Falls Apart
Author: Margery Cuyler Illustrator: Will Terry
Hardcover, 40 Page Picture Book, Ages 3-6
Sporting a red baseball cap Bonaparte, a boy skeleton, loses body parts with every activity in his life from walking, to riding his bike, or even visiting the doctor.
School is about to begin and Bonaparte is worried that other children will make fun of him because his bones routinely fall off and have to be retrieved. His friends, Franky Stein, Blacky Widow, and Mummicula all pull together to try to help, but each of their solutions is a disaster. As the beginning of school draws closer Bonaparte gets so worried that his head fell off, but his friends pick it up and put it in place determined to come up with a solution. When a dog runs by with a bone in his mouth they decide that this is exactly what Bonaparte needs. They decide to train the dog to retrieve his body parts. The effort is a bone-a-fide success and the dog, named Mandible, is a big hit when Bonaparte loses his jaw during lunch.
I like this book for lots of reasons. It’s a great book about friendship, problem solving, and teamwork. The humor isn’t lost on the adults or the older readers with many puns such as bone-anza, jaw-dropping, and naming the dog Mandible. It addresses the worry many children have when beginning the school year, and the possibility that nobody will like them. It’s a terrific choice for kids who want the fun of Halloween without the spookiness as the illustrations are brilliantly done to portray the creepies of the holiday without the fearfulness. In other words, the characters are as endearing as dead can be. Finally, this book makes a point of emphasizing that it’s OK to ask for help and to accept it. You just can’t miss with this book.
Bonaparte Falls Apart by Margery Cuyler gets 5 stars from this reviewer.