Dem Bones

by Bob Barner

Shoulder bone connected to da neck bone
Neck bone connected to da head bone
Dem Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Dry Bones
Colorful torn paper collages bring to life this classic African American spiritual. The frolicking skeletons will captivate children and adults while they sing along with this well-known, catchy song. Accompanied by interesting, informative "bone facts" this book makes a wonderful addition to both home and classroom libraries and a fun treat for Halloween!

Genres: Picture Books, Halloween, Science, Childrens, Nonfiction, Health, Music

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Bob Barner has been drawing since he was three years old. He graduated from the Columbus College of Art and Design, then moved to Boston where he was an art director at several advertising agencies and design studios. He was hired to help comic strip creator Al Capp draw Li'l Abner and studied with Milton Glaser at the School of Visual Arts in New York. He lives with his wife, Cathie, in San Francisco, California, where, in 2004, he was honored as a San Francisco Library Laureate.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dem Bones takes the traditional African American spiritual and turns it into a lighthearted anatomy lesson. Adults can chose whether to merely read/sing the traditional text or to add the short fact sections for additional information. My students are beginning a unit on human bodies and we're planning to spend some time thinking about bones and skeletons. This book will be a fun resource to support our other work. While I don't expect my students (four and five year olds) to remember much of the more complex anatomy information, there are several kids who are likely to consume the details ferociously and several others who will just find it interesting. If nothing else, the text will help us with very basic labeling of anatomy and perhaps even a simple dance.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love singing this song to my dog, my home's resident expert on bones.

[Tegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute! Could've used this in my human osteology class, haha.

[Katelynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes the folk song and adds facts about all the bones in our body.

[Mama Bibliosoph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of us are familiar with "Dem Bones" as a childhood song that is great for learning about the parts of the body, but you may not know that it was originally an African American spiritual inspired by the prophet Ezekiel's visit to the "Valley of Dry Bones."

This adaptation by Bob Barner has sidebars with technical information about the parts of the human skeleton that I find a little much for a picture book, but they are easily skipped over. Some may also find the illustrations a little wonky and hard to follow, but I like how each spread shows a close-up of the bone we are singing about as well as a full-length skeleton so that we can see that bone in context. Also, the bone in question is highlighted in a solid color, so it's easier to label.

If you're like me and not thrilled by religious references, there are many secularized ways to sing this song that don't include mentions of "the Lord." I like a version that I found on The Kiboomers YouTube channel.
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I review books from the perspective of a parent of two children with autism. This review is part of a list of Halloween theme books that can be found on my blog: https://www.lineupthebooks.com/hallow...

[Garrett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read children's books, but suffered a long wait at a bakery in Denver where Barner's book was glaring at me from a shelf. I decided to take a peek and found myself digesting the pages, partly to pass the time, but also partly to admire the technical detail Barner has integrated into the lovingly illustrated take on the classic "Dem Bones." Skeletons rock out on each page like a New Orleans band, while blurbs quietly explain the purpose and origin of major bones. The clash between simplicity and 7th grade physiology is a little startling, and this book seems to be shooting for two entirely different age ranges, but I think there's much to admire in trying to give young readers a precocious bunch of anatomy lessons and trivia, at the very least to inspire them to become physicians later in life.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a mixture of poetry and informational text. It has the text for the song "Dem Dry Bones," which according to the copyright page is an "African American spiritual," and each page has factual details about each bone or set of bones. I love the illustrations of this book as I can imagine my daughter picking it up because she is obsessed with anything and everything that looks like "Halloween." I know my daughter would enjoy the song aspect and she would also learn something about our skeletal system. The illustrations are paper collages and are striking. They are humorous and fun. I can see the illustration helping to keep a young reader engaged.

I would use this in a science unit with the younger elementary grades. It would also be fun with older students in science to discuss what bones were left out and why. How would including other bones have changed the "song"?

[Alison Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate this book because it balances entertainment with factual information - which isn't easy! This would be a fitting introductory book regarding the skeleton for preschoolers. My son enjoys the song and the fun dancing skeletons. He also likes learning about the human body and the additional details about the bones themselves and their functions. I appreciate that it manages to keep things accessible for my preschooler. I did have to google how to pronounce "coccyx" - guess its been a while since I last took any anatomy in school! Ha! Several of the reviews mentioned this being a good book for around Halloween but I think it would be a fun book to read whenever your kid starts asking questions about what is under our skin - regardless of the season.

[Brianna]

1. 1996 Publishers Weekly, 1997 Black-Eyed Susan Award (Nominee)
2. K-3 Grade
3. Through out this book is a song that goes from the toe bone to the head bone and singing all the connecting bones in between. For certain bones there are informative notes about the scientific names and fun facts about that specific bone.
4. This book is full of fun colorful skeleton illustrations that draws the attention of younger children. The book also contains a fun, catchy song that can be used to help remember different bones in the human body.
5. This book can be used to assess students on remembering important details and information of a story. It can also be used to teach students the different bones in the body and where they are.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kid (5 years old) loves spooky books. It soon Halloween. Saw this book with Skelton’s. We love it. The art is attractive. Kid actually asked questions about technique after reading the books the song is fun and familiar. The clincher for us was the body facts. I wasn’t expecting those and was pleasantly surprised. Others suggested the anatomy lessons were over the top. Totally disagree. Each page, I asked if he wanted to learn more about the bones and the answer was always yes. Kids are like sponges and think about how they learn every fact about Paw Patrol. Why not learn about the human body.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just kind of weird to me. There’s the song that everyone is pretty familiar with (leg bones connected to the knee bone, etc). It also includes factual information about the bones. The song doesn’t include any of the arm bones, or the ribs. Therefore there’s no factual information about those either. It just feels odd to leave out so much. I also think the song and the facts don’t really match in terms of age appropriateness. Finally, my 4 year old was very creeped out and scared of the skeletons. He tends to be squeamish about body stuff. My 3 year old was fine with it and liked it. But it should be kept in mind that it could be scary for some younger children.

[SaraKat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The old bones song that we all grow up hearing is the basis for this book. If one were so inclined, singing it to a youngster would be easy and the dancing skeleton illustrations would be entertaining. I liked the labelled skeleton at the end for quick reference and the fact that the bones being discussed were highlighted on each picture. As a general skeleton reference for young readers, it does the job. The end says that there are 450 bones at birth, but all the reputable sources I found mention 305 as the correct number.

[Sophie Klockow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This book perfectly correlates with the song Dem Bones
Connections: This reminds me of the song and almost all kids love singing songs as they are catchy
How you would use it: I would use this in science when talking about anatomy to make it fun and help children remember it
Subject heading:
Human skeleton--Juvenile literature.
Bones--Juvenile literature.
Skeleton.
Bones.

[Mary Tumbleson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is such a fun way to teach kids about the bones in the human body. The illustrations are so fun and there is a lot of information about each section of the body that kids can learn from. There’s even a chart at the end with some specific names of bones for kids that are really interested in bones.

[Dolores Stratford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about bones, with the classic song of this-bone-connected-to with additional descriptions of each bone.
October
dayofthedead
bones
diadelosmuertos

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This song is spiritual and dates back to at least the 1920s. The illustrations are quirky, and there's information about the skeleton scattered throughout the text in information boxes. It's easy to sing the song and skip the physiology for storytime if needs be.

[Raquel Schmitt]

Great book to teach second to third grade. It goes into detail about the different titles of bones, where they are located, and purpose. Very catchy and great illustrations. Could be counted as a Halloween book as well since it is skeleton themed.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dem Bones (Unknown Binding)
by Bob Barner
yes this book has the song Dem bones, but also has an explanation and description of all the bones in the song with interesting facts.
Used as a Halloween book for Kindergarten

[Heather Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

megan fall reading 2017, children's book, picture book, bones, anatomy, sing along, songs, prek, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade,

[Misbah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A picture book version of the "bone song".

I was surprised to learn that the Dem Bones or Dry Bones song is actually a spiritual African American song.

[Shahd Rdawi · Rating 5 out of 5]

📀 story

[Joccara · Rating 5 out of 5]

CUte book for a parent teaching a very young child about bones.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Amara · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdShq...

[Jill Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a whimsical look at all the bones in the human body from an African spiritual.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A recommended book as part of the Scholastic Learn at Home 1st and 2nd grade program.

[Lee Felker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect for body lesson

This book was great for a body lesson with my three year old. I paired it with the dem bones song on YouTube.
I highly recommend.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun picture book of the song we all know. The illustrations set it apart, and it will be a great addition to the kindergarten body unit.

[Aidan Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book ever hands down i love the part when it say dem bones

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

WONDERFUL!!!! Great book for the season, but wonderful for anytime. Simple understanding of bones and very informative. The illustrations are great.