In Around The Bookshops
Pearl of Great Price wrote
"I read Bones. It's about twins who find a skeleton and try to find it it's an animal or a person. Their unhelpful dog runs away with some of the bones. This is a Kiwi Bites book. It was easy to get into and just right for me. Year 4's and up are sure to enjoy this book."
And it finishes with saying the book was reviewed also in the Nov '08 issue.
The School Library: Learning Media.
Bones
(Kiwi Bites series Puffin)
Despite the back cover blurb, I feel Bones is less a mystery story than a small and delightful study in both human and canine psychology, as well as a fascinating lesson in police procedure.
What would happen if your dog began bringing home suspiciously human-looking bits of skeleton? Bones answers this - allowing the reader to look in on a realistic police operation as well as the reactions of the individuals at the centre and on the periphery of the investigations. (I like the cameo from two elderly rubberneckers: ’Police are so young these days,’ said Carol to Mavis... ‘Almost babies.’)
By the end of the book, the mystery of where the bones came from is solved, but not the mystery of how they got there. The book hints at a possible sequel. Perhaps we will find out then?
Johanna Knox
The Northern Advocate
Bones
by Maureen Crisp: Penguin Group (NZ) $9.95.
Rating out of 10: 8
Bones is about two kids, Nicki and Danny, and their dog Patch.
Patch keeps bringing bones home. Nicki is interested in where the bones are coming from. She takes it upon herself to find out the kinds of animals the bones belong to and discovers they are human bones.
Upon this discovery she tells the police who start an investigation.
Nicki and Danny work with the police to crack this mystery. Will they find where the bones are coming from? Read the book and find out!
I recommend it to readers 7-years- old and upwards, who will love this mouth watering bite-sized story from this writer of fun and mystery.-Hayley Milton
Northern Advocate Saturday January 3, 2009.
The Otago Daily Times
YOUNG readers will devour Bones, a new title in the Kiwi Bites collection by Wellington author Maureen Crisp (Puffin pbk $10). Danny and Nicki Cooper’s dog, Patch, starts bringing home human bones and burying them in Mr Cooper’s prize winning lily beds. The kids team up with the police to find the source of the bones while trying to convince their father to give Patch another chance. An engaging and unpredictable mystery with great pictures that is suitable for ages 6-8.
Caroline Bouffard
Otago Daily Times 25/10/2008
Maureen Crisp is a Wellington author, and Bones, illustrated by Robert Calvert, is another in the wonderful Kiwi Bites series. Danny and Nicki are twins. Their father is an obsessive gardener, so when their dog Patch starts bringing home bones and burying them in Dad’s garden, there’s bound to be trouble. The trouble is made worse by the fact that Nicki recognises one of them as a human bone, so the police become involved and they try to track Patch to find out here he’s getting them from. Another great first chapter book with humour, great characters, and a plot that romps along. The large font text and illustrations make it attractive to look at for those looking for their first longer read.
Malcolm at Story time Books Petone 08/08
