Skeleton Hiccups

“Skeleton woke up.
hic, hic, hic,
Had the hiccups.
hic, hic, hic”

By the time you’ve turned to page two of Skeleton Hiccups written by Margery Cuyler and illustrated by S.D. Schindler, all your little listeners will be chiming in “hic, hic, hic”. Skeleton has the hiccups and nothing, not holding his breath, not drinking water upside-down (which makes the water pour out his empty eye sockets), not being scared by his friend Ghost, nothing seems to help. Then Ghost holds up a mirror for Skeleton to see his own scary reflection, and the hiccups are gone!

This is a terrific Halloween choice for kids who don’t really want to be scared. Skeleton and Ghost (who wears his baseball cap backwards) are more friendly than fearsome. The repeated “hic, hic, hic”, the short sentences, and the simple plot make Skeleton Hiccups a fun read-aloud for those with bare-bones attention spans. After reading the story, talk about the skeleton each of us has inside. Sing “Skull, Shoulders, Knee Caps, Toes.” (I know that “Arms and ribs and legs and hips” isn’t exactly rhyming, so if you come up with a better fit, email me.) Then, build skeletons!

At artprojectsforkids.org, I found this cute idea for making a skeleton out of uncooked pasta. I’m bookmarking this site, because Kathy Barbro’s ideas look fun and some look easy enough even for me. There’s also a cool paper plate skeleton on isharecrafts.com for those who are more craftily-gifted. For a great change from sugary snacks, make “bones” from refrigerated breadstick dough and dip them in pizza sauce “blood” Happy Halloween!

For more information, visit margerycuyler.com.