Clover has an odd fear of skeletons, in that it is obviously artificial and based on depictions in media. I am sure it is most informed by Halloween specials of Little Bear than anything else. So when we read the books from my work, there is a strong reaction to what are very non-scary depictions of skeletons and bones in various configurations.
There is one exception to the fear, and that is the video made for Love Has No Labels.
youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnDgZuGIhHs
Same Love was already one of Clover’s favorite songs, so we were glad that e really took to the message in the video, and e loves seeing the skeletons move, and then revealed as real people.
Last night I tried a little experiment. Clover watches videos on repeat, which may be poor parenting on my part, but I also like memorizing things so I allow it for certain videos (like one that examines bias and universal love…), so while C was watching it I opened one of our books and put it in front of em. I figured the positive feelings surrounding the video would carry over into curiosity with all those bones.
And it worked! Kinda, too well.
After five repeats of the video, e had discovered the “3D” glasses in the book, and somehow made the connection that wearing them made em Dr. Bonyfide.
“Hello, I am Dr. Bonyfide, how do you do?”
I showed em how to use the glasses with sections in the book. Later, we went for a walk around the 'hood, and of course the glasses came along. Clover took a look around and saw some shoes hanging from powerlines, and suddenly needed to know how they had gotten there.
“Wait! We need to look around for… skeleton clues!”