I miiiiiiight have been a little un-busy at a bookfair this morning so I figured I'd get a small book off of my TBR pile. Here's Jon Klassen's "The Skull." This book is/inspired by a Tryolean Folktale.
["In a big abandoned house, on a barren hill, lives a skull. A brave girl named Otilla has escaped from terrible danger and run away, and when she finds herself lost in the dark forest, the lonely house beckons. Her host, the skull, is afraid of something too, something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both?"]
This book was both adorable and creepy as hell. I loved the old mansion and making new friends and sticking together/protectiveness that this story had going for it. It was about trying new things and being brave, in more ways than one. But a talking skull in an abandoned mansion in the middle of the woods that's (the skull) haunted/hunted nightly by its' skeleton body? Wow. That's a lot to unpack (at least for an adult (kids probably don't think so)).
I love how there are small references to Otilla's past and the skull's past, whether they are similar or completely different, that make them kindred spirits of sorts. It's something that kids would also overlook, but something that would keep adults thinking long after the story is over.
Jon was inspired to write this after he read a library book during a trip to Alaska. He couldn't remember the ending, but after finally finding it agian, he was shocked by how the ending he remember didn't resemble the actual ending whatsoever (his was much darker). I kinda want to read the OG tale as well now.
#theskull #theskullatyroleanfolktake #atryoleanfolktale #jonklassen #books #childrensbooks #childrensclassics #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks
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