Out From Boneville, Volume One in Jeff Smith's Graphic Novel Series, BONE
Book Focus: February 2005
Out From Boneville, Volume One of BONE by Jeff Smith
We asked David Saylor, Creative Director of Editorial, to tell us about the comic book saga, BONE, the first series from Scholastic’s new graphic novel imprint, GRAPHIX.
Out From Boneville, Volume 1 of BONE
By Jeff Smith
0-439-70623-8, $18.95 HC, 0-439-70640-8, $9.99 PB, Graphix,
Ages 8–12
I'd like to tell you about a book. It's adventurous and funny. It's a page-turner with strong characters and an irresistible plot. It's got magical creatures and an appealing hero who is fighting a powerful and evil enemy who will stop at nothing to regain power.
No, it's not Harry Potter. It's BONE, the incredible comic book saga that's sold over 1 million copies around the world and has been translated into 15 languages. BONE is also a graphic novel and it's the centerpiece of a new graphic novel imprint at Scholastic, called GRAPHIX.
BONE was written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, who was born and raised in the American Midwest. He currently lives in Columbus, Ohio, and he's a star in the comic book world, based on his amazing nine-volume BONE books. The books were self-published in black-and-white by Jeff's own company, Cartoon Books, beginning in 1991 and quickly became cult favorites among comic book fans. What makes our editions of BONE so special is that we're publishing them in splendid, new, full-color editions, beginning with Out From Boneville, volume one of the BONE series. (Volume two, The Great Cow Race, is coming out in August of this year).
How did Scholastic come to publish BONE? It first came to my attention through my assistant, Janna Morishima. She and I had been thinking about creating comics specifically for kids and we wanted to know which comics kids were reading. BONE was the one book everyone was talking about at Forbidden Planet, a comic book store in downtown Manhattan. And once Janna and I read it, we were hooked. And I guarantee you, once you've read the first book, you'll be hooked, too!
Incredibly, BONE had never been marketed or sold directly to kids and the publisher of the Scholastic Book Group, Jean Feiwel, thought that BONE would be a perfect book to launch our graphic novel imprint, GRAPHIX. It's got humor, adventure, great characters, and wonderful artwork. In short, everything that a book should have.
If you're nervous about comics because you haven't picked one up in a long time or if you're worried that comics just aren't real books, put your mind at ease. Jeff Smith is a master of visual storytelling. And if you haven't read a comic book in a long time, BONE will take you back to being a kid again when you used to curl up with your latest comics and couldn't wait for more. Some of the nicest comments about BONE came from one of our copyeditors, Susan Casel, who was a bit iffy about having to copyedit comics. But after reading Out From Boneville she told me, "You know, this book is great! When can I find out what happens next?"
So, we're very happy to be publishing Jeff Smith and to have Out From Boneville launch GRAPHIX. But more importantly, we're happy to bring BONE to a whole new audience of kids -- and adults.
Dr. Terezinha Nunes works at the Department of Child Development and Primary Education, Institute of Education, University of London.
- Scholastic Store
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Bone #1: Out from Boneville
The Scholastic Store 
Bone #1: Out from Boneville
by Jeff SmithThe three Bone cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone, are run out of Boneville. They become separated and find themselves alone in the uncharted desert, and each manage to make their way into a forest inhabited by strange creatures. There the adventures begin! Kids and adults alike will immensely enjoy this fantasy-humor comic adventure.
Fun Factor
$9.99
Kids will agree that it can be scary to leave home for the first time, but find reassurance in the fact that many adventures await.
Learning Curve
"Graphic novel" is a term used by librarians, educators, and booksellers to indicate a publishing format--books written and illustrated in the style of a comic book, consisting of "sequential art"--a series of illustrations which, when viewed in order, tell a story. Although today's graphic novels are a recent phenomenon, this basic way of storytelling has been used in various forms for centuries--early cave drawings, hieroglyphics, and medieval tapestries like the famous Bayeux Tapestry can be thought of as stories told in pictures. The term graphic novel is now generally used to describe any book in a comic format that resembles a novel in length and narrative development.
School librarians and educators have reported outstanding success getting kids to read with graphic novels, citing particularly their popularity with reluctant readers, especially boys--a group traditionally difficult to reach. At the same time, graphic novels with rich, complex plots and narrative structures can also be satisfying to advanced readers.
Want to learn more about graphic novels? Check out our discussion guide here .
books;paperback books;graphic novel | Ages 9-12
Ages 9-12 $9.99
- Teacher Store
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Bone #1: Out from Boneville
The Teacher Store 
Bone #1: Out from Boneville
by Jeff SmithIn Out from Boneville, volume one of this nine-book epic, the three Bone cousins--Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone--are separated and lost in a vast, uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures. Eventually, the cousins are reunited at a farmstead run by tough Gran'ma Ben and her spirited granddaughter Thorn. But little do the Bones know, there are dark forces conspiring against them and their adve
$18.95
Hardcover Book | Grades 4-7
Grades 4-7 $18.95
LESSON PLAN
UNIT PLAN
BOOK INFORMATION
