Series Fantasy ages 8–13

Bone

by Jeff Smith · 2025

Part of the collectionBone→

Canonical classicMajor award winnerBestseller list

Adult crossoverGrows with the reader

Best for readers who want a funny graphic novel that gradually turns into a serious fantasy epic.

Books9 / 9
Arcs3
Span2025
StatusComplete

Start hereBone 1: Out from BonevilleBook 1 · 2025 · the natural entry to the series

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The series

At a glance.

Bone is the core nine-volume graphic novel series by Jeff Smith, with companion books including Rose, Tall Tales and More Tall Tales sitting alongside the main sequence. It begins with Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone lost in a strange valley, then slowly reveals dragons, rat creatures, Thorn's hidden past, the Hooded One and the Lord of the Locusts. The genius of the series is its tonal control: it can be genuinely funny, visually readable and full of slapstick while still becoming a proper fantasy saga with real battles and emotional weight. Read in order, it is one of the best comic-to-epic transitions in children's books.

Best for readers who want a funny graphic novel that gradually turns into a serious fantasy epic.

Primary themes

Overall tone

Funny
Adventurous
Exciting
Suspenseful

Reading order

Read the nine main Bone volumes in order. Tall Tales and More Tall Tales can be read as companion material, while Rose works best after some familiarity with the main mythology.

Three arcs

A series that changes as it goes.

I
Narrative arcBooks 1–2 · 2025Moderate sensitivity
Lost in the valley
The Bone cousins arrive in the valley and the comic adventure begins.
The opening arc is the friendliest way into Bone. Out from Boneville and The Great Cow Race foreground the comic surface: lost cousins, rat creatures, a lovely valley community, Phoney's schemes, Smiley's odd cheerfulness and Fone Bone's growing affection for Thorn. The fantasy threat is present, but the dominant feeling is still comic adventure. This is where the series works especially well for readers arriving from lighter graphic novels, because the panels are clear, the jokes land quickly and the world is charming before it becomes epic.
Best fit
7–12read-aloud 6–11
Reads as
- Funny
- Adventurous
- Whimsical
- Exciting
On the page
- Violence
- Scary imagery
Book 1Out from Boneville2025
Book 2The Great Cow Race2025
II
Narrative arcBooks 3–6 · 2025Moderate sensitivity
The valley's hidden war
The comic valley story deepens into dragons, prophecy, power struggles and real danger.
The middle arc is where Bone's larger fantasy shape becomes clear. Thorn's dreams and identity matter more, Gran'ma Ben and Lucius are revealed as more than colourful side characters, and the rat creatures, dragons, the Hooded One and the Lord of the Locusts move from background mystery into active threat. The series is still funny, especially through the Bone cousins, but the plot now asks readers to track loyalties, histories and growing danger. This is the strongest stretch for children who like their comics to become richer and more mythic as they go.
Best fit
8–13read-aloud 8–12
Reads as
- Adventurous
- Exciting
- Suspenseful
- Funny
On the page
- Violence
- War or conflict
- Scary imagery
Book 3Eyes of the Storm2025
Book 4The Dragonslayer2025
Book 5Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border2025
Book 6Old Man's Cave2025
III
Narrative arcBooks 7–9 · 2025Moderate sensitivity
Ghost circles and the final battle
The series reaches its darkest and most epic phase, with the war and mythology brought to a close.
The final main arc is the least cosy part of Bone. Ghost Circles, Treasure Hunters and Crown of Horns bring the fantasy conflict into full view, with scarier imagery, battlefield stakes, difficult choices and the emotional pay-off to Thorn, Fone Bone and the wider valley story. This is still middle-grade rather than YA, and the cartoon style keeps the violence from feeling graphic, but the story is now a genuine epic. The sensitivity remains moderate, not high, because the series handles danger and war in a mythic, child-accessible register, but parents of very sensitive readers should treat this final run as the point where Bone is most intense.
Best fit
9–13read-aloud 8–12
Reads as
- Adventurous
- Exciting
- Suspenseful
- Dark
On the page
- Violence
- War or conflict
- Scary imagery
Book 7Ghost Circles2025
Book 8Treasure Hunters2025
Book 9Crown of Horns2025

Fit check

Right for your reader?

Where the series lands by age

Best fit · 8–13
Read aloud · 8–12
Independent · 8–13

Reluctant-reader friendliness

High

Read-aloud quality

Strong

Adult crossover

High

Grows with the reader

Designed to

Sensitivity envelope

Moderate overall, and consistent.

ModerateSeries-level

Content notes

Violence
War or conflict
Scary imagery

Per-arc breakdown

Arc ILost in the valleyModerate

Arc IIThe valley's hidden warModerate

Arc IIIGhost circles and the final battleModerate

In the same universe

Sister series.

SeriesBone: Companions3 of 3 books · ages 8–13

Bone: Companions is the standalone-volumes strand of Jeff Smith's Bone universe. It collects three works that sit beside the main nine-book sequence rather than…

Open series →SeriesBone: Quest for the Spark3 of 3 books · ages 8–12

Bone: Quest for the Spark is a three-book prose spin-off by Tom Sniegoski, created with Jeff Smith and set in the Bone universe. It follows new young heroes int…

Open series →

Where it sits

In conversation with other series.

Read this before…

Series that lead readers naturally into this one.

Similar in feel

Different shelves, same wavelength.

Read this after…

Series that pick up where Bone leaves off.

The Hobbit →by J.R.R. Tolkien

About the author

Jeff Smith.

Jeff Smith

Both

Jeff Smith: creator of Bone — the nine-volume fantasy graphic-novel sequence that's the gateway-drug epic fantasy for any reader who likes Tolkien, big stakes and slapstick rat creatures in equal measure.