Bony-Legs
Fairy Tale Retelling Picture Book Bedtime Story Folklore Halloween & Spooky (Kid-Safe) Collectible Children's Feminist Children's Literature
Bony-Legs – Joanna Cole’s 1983 first-edition picture-book classic – is the gentle, funny, and just-spooky-enough Baba Yaga tale that Generation-X parents still quote at bedtime. This 1980s Scholastic release distills the Russian witch-legend into 32 pages of crisp, rhythmic text and droll line-and-watercolor art: a small girl, Sasha, must outwit the cannibalistic “Bony-Legs” whose house walks on chicken legs. The suspense is perfectly calibrated for toddlers (no real scares), yet the ironic twists and folkloric depth keep early readers, teens, and nostalgic adults flipping pages. As a vintage pre-Internet Scholastic weekly reader, it slipped into countless backpacks in 1983 and promptly vanished; today, clean first printings are hunted by collectors of ’80s picture books, Russian-folklore retellings, and proto-feminist heroines.
What makes this copy irresistible is its collectible integrity: a true 1983 first printing with the original $2.25 cover price, bright uncreased covers, and no child scribbles, library stamps, or torn leaves—only the faintest thumb-smudges that testify to gentle bedtime use. The artwork, printed on the high-gloss, heavy paper Scholastic reserved for its stand-alone titles, still pops with the lime-greens and witchy-purples that made ’80s kids hide the book under pillows. Because Book-Tok and parenting blogs have rediscovered Bony-Legs as the perfect “not-too-scary” October read-aloud, demand has surged, but most copies on the resale market are ex-library horrors. Owning this crisp, unread-looking personal copy is the fastest way to give your child—or your Instagram shelfie—the authentic 1980s experience.
Add the multi-age magic: toddlers love the chant-able refrain “Bony-Legs, Bony-Legs, clackety-clack!”; emerging readers can tackle the controlled vocabulary; middle-graders study comparative folklore; adults appreciate the sly humor and feminist slant. Slip it into Halloween baskets, baby-shower gifts, or your own antiquarian row and watch the smiles spark across four decades.
Refer to our eBay listing for a full condition report and many more high-quality pictures of this item.
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