The Bone Keeper

Written by Megan McDonald

Paintings by G. Brian Karas

DK Publishing Inc., 1999

Genre: Children's picture book; fiction; myth

Reading Level: Ages 4-8

32 pages

The Bone Keeper is a mythical, eerie book about an old woman who searches the desert for bones to build a creature, she collects all the bones she finds and one by one puts them together. When she finally puts the last piece on she does a chant and a dance and the bones turn into a creature, which turns out to be a wolf. It's written like it's being told from memory like an eerie old tale passed through generations. It even starts like one, "If you listen to the desert, if you listen, you may hear a laughing, a chanting, a singing. They call her Owl Woman. They call her Rattlesnake woman. They call her Bone Woman." It even ends more like one with a saying similar to others in that if you listen in the desert at night you might hear the old woman chanting.

I would recommend this book to any child curious about myths and creation myths.

I feel that a problem that could arise from this book is the idea that it is one way of explaining creation, that parents might not want their children to hear.

When i first picked up this book i didn't particularly like it. However, as I read it again as if it was being told as a myth to explain creation, i enjoyed it a lot more. I also liked the eerie and unique design of the pictures. However, i do feel it would be a little confusing to children.

My rating: 3 out of 5