And with this atmosphere, any five year old will be completely enthralled by now. It even carries on in a way which reflects story books of old:

Dog is having his favourite dream, the one about a big, juicy bone. After Dog wakes up from his favourite dream he chases after other animals that have got the big, juicy bone including Cat. The Ahlbergs' books are nursery bookshelf standards and have been the recipient of worldwide acclaim and awards, including the Kate Greenaway Medal. Draw around somebody you know on a large piece of paper and label the different bones inside their body on it. Little gets bored with the quiet life on the dark, dark hill. So he decides to go to the city before he gets worried about Big and Dog getting lost. "There are too many skeletons" says the Big Skeleton in the city and even the underground has them.The use of repetitive language and songs further add to the stories features and add a great amount of fun and laughter when the story is read aloud. Both the adults reading the text and children can join in with this. I feel that it cannot only be used as a literacy focus, but the story itself has scientific features. Children are able to extend their biological knowledge of the structure of the human skeleton. This will assist in enlarging their language vocabulary. Mr. Bonehead: The skeleton owner of the pet shop (who wore a bigger hat called a flat cap with a pencil and an apron), who Big and Little took Dog into with a view to swapping him for another pet etc. in the episode "The Pet Shop" and everything else in other episodes.

Funny bones by Janet and Allan Ahlberg is one of my most favorite childhood books!! The book is about…”a big skeleton…a little skeleton…and a dog skeleton…” one night all three were bored in bed and decided to go outside to “scare somebody”. The story goes on, the skeletons walk past the houses on the street, and the shops, and past the zoo, and past the police station and finally go to the park where they look for someone to scare! Dog: The pet dog of the skeleton brothers who loved bones, digging holes, and found everything that the skeleton brothers need.

Using our Resources

The story includes lots of speech. Can you use this to create a play script and perform it for others? Dr. Bones: The skeleton doctor (who wore a doctor's coat and glasses with a first aid kit, a stethoscope and a leg tapping hammer) who helped Big and Little to stop them from bumping in the night and everything else etc. in the episode "Bumps in the Night" and everything else in other episodes.

Moon Man: The Crescent-moon-shaped character who was always the narrator in each episode. Unlike other characters, he was also not a skeleton.

They live in a dark, dark cellar of a dark, dark house on a dark, dark hill and so the word repetition continues through this lighthearted story for early readers. The skeletons venture out of their cellar one night to find someone to scare, but everyone is in bed, so they amuse themselves by scaring each other and playing with the skeleton animals that live in the zoo. Teaching Ideas and Resources: English Dog gets left behind when Big and Little decide to visit the dark, dark dinosaur museum. When Dog follows Big and Little to the dinosaur museum, he thinks a huge, huge dinosaur wanted to hurt them. The book has a lot of emphasis on the word ‘dark’, such as dark dark street...dark dark house...the effect of this is that children are able to remember this and they also get a sense of the way it has been used for effect.