The Skull- A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen
Product Details
Web ID: 17339327An adorable morbid children's book
Otilla is a strange little girl who finds a strange little friend in a skull and their friendship is both morbid and beautiful. I picked this book up hoping for a dark, strange, morbid children's book and I got just exactly that. The illustrations are imaginative and dark but somehow adorable and comforting at the same time. The story is melancholy and slightly morbid but is also very tender and sweet and I felt myself going "aw" in multiple places. There was even a little twist where I gasped out loud. I'd definitely recommend for anyone wanting to add a beautiful folklore twist book to their shelves or for anyone who has a slightly morbid child in their life. I'd definitely give this to my kid if I had one.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Perfect
Jon Klassen's decision to retell and illustrate the Tirolean tale The Skull benefits us all. Not only do we get delightfully spooky images where the whites of the girl's eyes stare out of her shadowed face, a reverse image of the black depths where the pale skull's eyes should be, we also get a satisfying fairy tale where good triumphs in the end. Together, the girl and skull make a powerful team, defeating a headless skeleton that tries to capture the skull nightly; they live together happily ever after. Ingenuity and courtesy on the girl's part are rewarded, and by treating each other with respect and compassion, Otilla and the Skull discover in one another a suitable companion. The predictability of traditional literature provides comfort in what could otherwise be a very creepy story. The art is perfect for the tale, and the tale is perfect for the season. An aside: Tirol holds a special significance for me, as that is where I spent a year in college for study abroad, so a Tirolean tale held especial appeal.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A new Halloween favorite of ours!
This eerie tale begins before the title page when we find that, one night, “Otilla finally ran away.” And run she does, into the forest until she’s some place unfamiliar and (maybe) someone is calling her name. Coming upon a “very big, very old house,” her knocking is answered by a skull! From there, the story unfolds—but I can’t tell you how, you have to read the book. Let me just say that Jon Klassen’s creepy, unexpected reimagined version of this folktale has crept onto my Top Ten favorite Halloween books. It has heart. It has twists. It has a talking skull! Klassen’s art feels familiar in Otilla’s wide-eyed expression, yet there’s enough new to keep his illustrations fresh. In one of my favorite scenes, Otilla and the skull don decorative Tyrolean masks (after the skull says they’re just for show!) and dance in an empty ballroom. I appreciate the craftmanship of his writing with the parallels he alludes to between the two main characters. This book will be one we turn to for many Halloweens to come. It’s written as a chapter book of sorts with sections and clever subheadings, but the book will also appeal to picture book readers. It’s flawlessly executed, an example of an author-illustrator at a career peak. After the story, Klassen explains the history of how he came to write this story and how tales evolve in the telling.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Not as scary as the title
While the title and the illustration on the front (very Jon Klassen) imply a very scary story, it’s actually kind of sweet if a child rescuing a skull can be sweet. And there’s some humor like when the child gives the skull a drink of tea (he has no hands after all) and it flows through to the chair. May be your new favorite Halloween story and btw, Troylean refers to the Austrian state of Tryol – think Black Forest.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Beautiful book
When Otilla runs away, she travels through a dense forest before coming across a house that looks abandoned. When she knocks on the door, Otilla discovers the house is inhabited after all. “Otilla looked up to where the voice had come from. In a window above the door, she saw a skull looking at her.” By a skull that is haunted by a secret. I’m not quite sure how Otilla managed to get the fire hot enough for one of its purposes. I want to know why Otilla ran away and need to invent more of a backstory for the skull because my macabre-o-meter needs more juice. This is a beautiful book. A retelling of a Tyrolean folktale, it’s such an odd little story and I have no idea yet if I will fall in love with it during a reread or if the question marks are going to remain above my head. What I’m absolutely certain of is that I loved the dance and the masks. I adored the quirky illustrations. I really enjoyed the author’s note, where they explain how this retelling came about. Thank you so much to Walker Books for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Delightfully Macabre With a Cup of Tea!
My family absolutely loves Jon Klassen books! This one is such a fun retelling with Klassen's signature dark humor. Although based on a Tyrolean folktale there are some parallels to Beauty and the Beast. It may be a little long for lapsit readers, but it is extremely enjoyable for ages 5 and up. I can almost guarantee you that your child will want to carry around their very own skull. Don't worry. Because you'll want to too.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com