A lot of people have complained about the way Bonea is being treated in Peace Talks/Battle Ground, more as an afterthought to be stuffed in a bowling bag than Harry’s younger daughter. A lot is made of the gifts for Maggie, and making sure she has a good Christmas in Christmas Eve, but not a peep on Bonea.
It’s fine to treat Bob as a talking head, it’s what he was introduced for but Bonea is Harry’s daughter, she needs to be treated as such.
Part of the problem is that Bonea is a disembodied spirit living in a wooden replica skull, it limits her interaction with the story and with other characters.
We know Bob can possess Mister and even a statue. He can use magic as he empowers Butters devices. Surely Bonea can summon ectoplasm from the Never Never and make herself a body around the skull based on the body image we saw in Harry’s subconscious in Skin Game? It would allow her to interact with Harry and Maggie in a more human fashion, to be a proper playmate for her sister and a daughter for Harry.
She would have body memory from her parents, so would be able to navigate her new form, and aside from dawn it would be stable. She would merely have to make sure that she wasn’t embodied over dawn somewhere inconvenient.
She also has memories of food from her parents (she would know exactly how many Burger King burgers Harry had eaten up to her birth) and could create from ectoplasm fairy food to simulate exact taste and texture and therefore enjoy food along with her family (see Skin Game on how communal eating is a bonding exercise).
If something like this occurred it would have to after Christmas Eve in Next Book, but that would be consistent, that story marks the nadir of Harry’s depression and PTSD, until Kringle provides a literal cup of good cheer (yes I think that was another deliberate play on words brought to life by Jim, as it has Christmas associations). On an upswing, Harry is suddenly able to connect with his second daughter like he couldn’t before.
What other ways could Bonea be brought into the narrative?