Ten Spooky Skeletons - Story Snug

Ten Spooky Skeletons by Patricia Hegarty, Annette Rusling & Garry Parsons

Ten Spooky Skeletons is a fun Halloween counting book for little people which, despite the word spooky in the title, is not spooky or scary at all!

The Story: A lonely skeleton sets out to look for some friends and on each page he finds one more until he has nine friends to play with. At the end of the book the skeletons enjoy a party until one of them turns off the light and… (we won’t spoil the end!)

Ten Spooky Skeletons is a sturdy hardback with ten, tactile, glow-in-the-dark skeletons on the cover, it’s lovely to stroke! We love the way that the skeletons are doing a range of familiar activities including reading and eating as well as being pirates, circus entertainers, magicians and ice skaters. Animal skeletons are also included, I love the mouse skeleton, especially when he dresses up in the circus, and my daughter’s favourite is the skeleton owl.

The rhyming text bounces along and is easy to read. The illustrations are fun and full of energy and detail, each one includes a number which correlates with the number of skeletons on the page so it’s fun to look for each number to practise number recognition. Each double spread also has a hole cut out on the right hand side which offers a glimpse of the next page in the story, it’s a lovely invitation for a child to turn the page to discover what the skeletons will do next.

This would be a fun book to read in an early years classroom at Halloween and children could make their own skeleton puppets using this template from Preschool Activities.

Funnybones Skeleton Puppet Story Snug

For those of you looking for a Halloween book that won’t scare your child Ten Spooky Skeletons is perfect. Pumpkins, bats and spiders are shown in some of the illustrations but the skeletons have fun throughout the book, they’re even smiling on the final double spread which is a fantastic glow-in-the-dark illustration.

Age Range: 3 +

Authors: Patricia Hegarty & Annette Rusling / Illustrator: Garry Parsons

Thank you to Little Tiger Press for sending us a copy of Ten Spooky Skeletons, it’s a fun and original way to practise counting and number recognition.


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16 responses to “Ten Spooky Skeletons by Patricia Hegarty, Annette Rusling & Garry Parsons”


  1. Colette B avatar

    I do love a good counting book – even better one with a seasonal theme!

    Thanks for sharing your review on #TriedTested this week x


    1. Catherine avatar

      Ten Spooky Skeletons is a really original way to introduce children to counting.


  2. Baby Isabella avatar

    The template is a good addition to the story. It sounds really good and would be perfect for me! #TriedTested


    1. Catherine avatar

      He’s a very friendly skeleton for you to make ๐Ÿ™‚


  3. The Reading Residence avatar

    Sounds like a lovely book, and rhyming books are always fun to read x


    1. Catherine avatar

      This has a very bouncy rhyme, you just romp through the story ๐Ÿ™‚


  4. Boo Roo and Tigger Too avatar

    Sounds like a great book for pre-school, I like that the skeletons aren’t scary


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a lovely book for the littlest people, just a group of skeletons having fun ๐Ÿ™‚


  5. chantelle hazelden avatar

    Love the look of this, a bit of fun whilst learning, my girls love anything that glows in the dark too. thanks for sharing with #readwithme


    1. Catherine avatar

      Ten Spooky Skeletons is an original book to teach and practise counting ๐Ÿ™‚


  6. Naila Moon avatar

    This looks like a cute book. Great review.
    I am going to have to add this to my collections.

    Thanks for sharing on the hop.


    1. Catherine avatar

      Thanks Naila, I hope you enjoy it ๐Ÿ™‚


  7. Sally avatar

    Love the skeletons that glow in the dark and do random activities. Sounds like fun. Visiting from Kid Lit Blog Hop.


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s good to see skeletons having fun ๐Ÿ™‚


  8. Alex Baugh avatar

    Those skeletons on the cover don’t look scary but they sure are cute – This sounds like such a great book for young readers. And thanks for sharing the template – we’ll be making skeleton garland from it in this house.


    1. Catherine avatar

      The skeletons give a flavour of Halloween but in a very non scary way – they’re too busy having fun!