.jpeg?picon=3103)
Roaring Brook Press, 2011
$16.99, ages 4-8, 32 pages
As a dog comes to the end of her life, she promises her boy she'll always watch over him, then stays true to her word, pattering down from the sky on Halloween to scare away graveyard goons.
In this uplifting, sweet picture book, Caldecott Medalist Rohmann shows a boy confronting the pain of losing a pet, but finding comfort in the thought of his dog's spirit following along above him.
Gus has loved Ella for as long as he can remember; he's loved riding on her back as she charged across the field with a pack of dog friends at her side. But now, Ella's coming to the end of her life and it's time for her to say goodbye.
As a harvest moon slides up over the hillside, Gus sits in the grass with his arm around Ella as she tells him she'll soon go away, but that she'll always look over him. "A promise made under a full moon cannot be broken," she says.
By the next spread, Ella has passed away and Gus is weighted with grief. Losing his dog has taken the fun out of everything, even dressing up and going out trick-or-treating. But it's Halloween and no one misses wandering door-to-door.
Dressed as a skeleton, Gus heads off alone into the night, his body slouched, reflecting how his heart feels. The dogs from the neighborhood tilt their heads in his direction, tuned into the loneliness he feels.
After Gus fills up his bag, he wanders back toward home and as he crosses the graveyard, he comes upon a fantastical sight all aglow in the full moon.
Skeletons are crawling out from behind tombstones and rattling about. They run to him because they think he's a skeleton too. But when the boy pulls off his mask to reveal he's really just a boy, the skeletons grow mischievous and try to chase him.
Suddenly up in the dark sky, a wagging bone dog comes running down to the boy; it's the spirit of his beloved Ella, watc
0 Comments on 1. Bone Dog as of 1/1/1900
Add a Comment