Little Skeletons/Esqueletitos

A Spanish rhyme, “Los Esqueletos,” forms the basis of this bilingual, accordion-style board book that features a busy cast of skeletons (humans, monkeys, birds, and more) drawn in the style of José Guadalupe Posada’s La Catrina, which has become synonymous with Día de los Muertos celebrations. Given that the rhyme originated in Spanish, it’s perhaps not surprising that it reads more smoothly in that language than in English (“When the old clock strikes the hour of three,/ three skeletitos backwards flee”). But Jaramillo’s exuberant pencil illustrations brim with festive detail; clocks with moveable hands open both versions of the story, playing into the time-telling aspect of this eerie counting tale. Up to age 4. (Aug.)