Caldecott Medal-winning author/illustrator Jon Klassen takes an especially dark turn in an unconventional folktale for hardy early readers, The Skull. This morbid yet profoundly affectionate chapter book about a girl and her bony companion was chosen as the #1 Kids Indie Next List book for July/August 2023.
"One night, in the middle of the night, while everyone else was asleep, Otilla finally ran away." Otilla, arriving at a seemingly abandoned old home, is welcomed by its unexpected proprietor: a skull.
A note describes Klassen's fascinating inspiration, which came from an older retelling, and this unorthodox, five-part folktale tips heavily into Grimm sentiments. The tenebrous, digitally finished graphite-and-ink palette leans toward his work in The Dark (2013), while the unnerving plot evokes Klassen's calamitous The Rock from the Sky (2021). The gripping art melds brilliantly with emotionally hefty text to strike an overwhelmingly eerie and foreboding tone, which plays in exquisite contrast to the blooming solidarity between Otilla and the skull. Make no bones about it, this is a wholly distinctive and delightfully unsettling creation. --Kit Ballenger, youth librarian, Help Your Shelf