Under a dim crescent moon, two youngsters—one brown-skinned with long dark hair, the other pale-skinned with short red hair—climb an ominous mountain by a switchback trail, accompanied by a dog who collects a mouthful of bones along the way. An unseen narrator urgently advises them to stop (“There’s a ghost town in the mountains, turn back now!” “There’s a cabin off the main street, don’t go in!”). The dark-haired child ignores the cautions and gleefully drags the frightened-looking redhead along as they hurry into the cabin, then up a rotting staircase to the “spiderweb-y” attic. Naturally, they open the cupboard and then the tiny casket inside. The “magic jawbone” within begins clacking. A skeleton assembles and them sashays to the rattling music of this “ancient mandible,” alarming even the bolder child—and precipitating the adventurers’ headlong reverse flight. Garrigue’s cartoonish illustrations and luridly lovely lilac color scheme, along with Becker’s jaunty verse, make for an exploit that’s creepy but never overwhelmingly so. The varied, echoing refrain—“Scrim-scram! Step-stomp! Click-clack! Bump-thump!”—should guarantee enthusiastic audience participation. The book concludes with information on ghost towns and the origins of “She’ll Be Comin’ ’Round the Mountain When She Comes,” along with music and lyrics to “Ghost Town in the Mountains.”
