DESCRIPTION
Samira likes school, especially when she gets to sit next to her best friend, Frida. But when they learn about the skeletal system in science class, Samira suddenly begins to imagine everyone in school as a walking skeleton. Soon she starts avoiding her fellow classmates, even Frida, but Samira still can't escape her own skeleton. With some clever help from her mother, though, Samira realizes that maybe having a body full of bones isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Enhanced by delightfully impish illustrations, Camilla Kuhn's playful book depicts the hilarious results of an imagination gone awry.
AWARDS and RECOGNITIONS
Book Links: 2016 Lasting Connections List
United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY), Outstanding International Books (2017)
REVIEWS
Booklist (starred review)
"This Norwegian import is icky and unsettling even while being a guffaw-inducing exploration of the human body, complete with comically exaggerated anatomical drawings of what lurks beneath our skin. Beyond the guaranteed giggles, Kuhn adds a subtle teaching moment: by presenting Samira with dark skin and her best friend with lighter skin, and then showing both of their skeletons (and later, somewhat horrifyingly, muscles), Kuhn highlights how much we are the same underneath."
Publishers Weekly
"Tenderhearted kids may be freaked out by the book's moderately disturbing images, but scientifically curious ones (and those with a mischievous streak) should appreciate Kuhn's directness."