Review - Bonaparte Falls Apart

Bonaparte Falls Apart
by Margery Cuyler
illustrated by Will Terry
Date: 2017
Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

Bonaparte is having a tough time. It's hard for this young skeleton to just hang loose when he can't keep hold of himself.

When he plays catch, his throwing arm literally takes a flyer. Eating lunch can be a real jaw-dropping occasion. How can he start school when he has so many screws loose?

Luckily, Bonaparte hit the bone-anza when it came to his friends. Franky Stein, Black Widow, and Mummicula all have some boneheaded ideas to help pull him together. But will it be enough to boost his confidence and get him ready for the first day of school?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Bonaparte the skeleton has a problem: He keeps falling apart! His friends try to help him out with various methods of trying to keep all his bones stuck together, but nothing seems to work... and the first day of school is fast approaching. Bonaparte's worried that he's going to fall apart in front of all the other kids. How embarrassing that would be!

This is a simple story with a rather cute premise. And the illustrations are absolutely adorable. But there's one point in the story where Bonaparte's friend Blacky Widow helps him out with a web. Unfortunately, the author decided to say the spider "spinned" a web. I'm pretty sure "spinned" isn't a word (in fact, my spellchecker keeps highlighting it when I type it), and I was kind of irked and distracted throughout the rest of the story.

Aside from that, though, this is a cute tale of a skeleton being helped by his monster friends as they try to figure out a solution for his unusual problem. Those looking for picture books about paranormal creatures might find something to like here.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.33 out of 5