When Skeleton overhears Big Witch and Little Witch planning to "have him for dinner," he misunderstands their intent, and flees in a panic. He convinces Ghost and Ghoul that they too are in danger - in danger of being eaten! - and the three go into hiding. It falls to Crow to set the mistake right, explaining to the three that the witches wanted to host them for dinner, not eat them...

Given my love for all things witchy, my appreciation for spooky Halloween stories, and the fact that I've enjoyed other titles from author Margery Cuyler - Sir William and the Pumpkin Monster, Skeleton Hiccups, etc. - I expected to like Skeleton for Dinner more than I actually did. I appreciated the story idea, which rests on the misunderstanding of the meaning of "have," in this context, and I thought Will Terry's accompanying artwork was colorful, if sometimes a little too cute for me. But the text itself just sometimes felt a little flat. Tastes vary of course, and I did enjoy this one, so picture-book readers looking for spooky witchy/monster stories might want to give this one a try. It never specifically mentions Halloween, but it could definitely be included in a story-time celebrating that holiday. ( )

This book chose to focus mainly on getting across a point in the story. This book chose to have its audience understand that the witches made a mistake in their writing. It could also be used in order to show that students need to be able write accordingly to portray the correct message to others. ( )