The Skull

As I was writing this post, I accidentally typed the word folkTAKES instead of folktales. I started to change it, but then I realized that it’s the perfect description of Jon Klassen’s rendition of The Skull, a re-imagining of a folktale he had read a year prior to creating his own version.

I’ve been waiting for this book. I love Jon Klassen’s shape series and this one promised to be equally as dark, funny, and just as endearing as that Square and Triangle. Not to mention that the This is Not My Hat series was one of our favorite series when Mini Me and Little Lion were younger.

The Skull is beautifully rendered in words and illustration. The pauses and subtext are spot on, a tale with an underlying lesson of acceptance and also friendship, overcoming odds, watching out for each other, with the morbid literally and not-so-morbid figuratively getting rid of one’s ‘baggage’. I don’t want to write too much and spoil the story, but I absolutely loved the ‘pauses’ that speak volumes, such as when the skull looks into the fire and then Otilla looks into the fire. There’s so much understanding between the two new friends.

I read The Skull initially by myself and I giggled as I KNEW how much both my kids would love this story. Klassen is a great storyteller in the re-telling of this folktale. The limited color illustrations with light juxtaposed with dark just adds so much to the story. The second time I read this story was out loud to Mini Me while we were snuggling on the couch. Yes, she’s a senior in high school. Yes, this was a rare moment. But we bonded and laughed just like we would have when she was three. Though when she was three, I would be imagining a teenage Mini Me and she’s even better than I could have dreamed. Reconciling my precocious and beyond-her-years three-year-old with the creative, funny, goth girl she’s become is such a blessing and a dream.

Bottom line: Jon Klassen’s The Skull is perfect for the spooky season ahead and a fun read aloud for an imaginative toddler and beyond.

See below for the gothic-folktale images in Klassen’s distinctive style. Do not swipe to final image if you don’t want to be spoiled.