The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale
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Perma-Bound from Publisher's Hardcover ©2023--
Publisher's Hardcover ©2023--
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Candlewick Press
Annotation: "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 somethingtoo, something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both?"-- cProvided by publisher.
Genre: [Fairy tales]
 
Reviews: 4
Catalog Number: #390843
Format: Perma-Bound from Publisher's Hardcover
Special Formats: Chapter Book Chapter Book
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Copyright Date: 2023
Edition Date: 2023 Release Date: 07/11/23
Pages: 105 pages
ISBN: Publisher: 1-536-22336-0 Perma-Bound: 0-8000-6671-5
ISBN 13: Publisher: 978-1-536-22336-1 Perma-Bound: 978-0-8000-6671-0
Dewey: 398.2094364
LCCN: 2022936945
Dimensions: 21 cm
Language: English
Reviews:
Starred Review ALA Booklist (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Starred Review In his appended author's note, Klassen shares how he stumbled upon and reimagined the Tyrolean folktale that occupies this early chapter book's pages. He casts off the original's "Beauty and the Beast" glamour in favor of a gritty sort of moxie that results in a more rewarding friendship story. One night, young Otilla runs away from home and becomes lost in the snowy woods. Eventually, she comes upon a seemingly abandoned mansion, but when she knocks on its door, it is politely answered by a skull. Otilla takes this strangeness in stride as the skull gives her a tour of his home and invites her to stay the night, on the condition that she helps him escape the headless skeleton that tries to capture him each night. She agrees and boy does she deliver. Klassen's recognizable graphite-and-ink illustrations capture the haunting t somehow charming mosphere of the stark Austrian setting, where shadows loom, bones come to life, and apricot sunshine cuts through the gloom. The book itself is divided into three sections, where the text is kept short but printed large and the artwork takes center stage. Is the story creepy? You bet, but it's also weirdly sweet and characterized by agency, kindness, and choice. It won't be for all readers, but for those who thrill at peering into shadows, it will shine bright.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: With a Caldecott Medal, best-seller status, and a cult following to his name, Klassen's newest offering will be highly coveted.

School Library Journal Starred Review (Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Gr 2–4 —Reducing an old tale to, appropriately enough, bare bones, Klassen puts a distinctive spin on the "unlikely friends" trope. Fleeing an unspecified danger as creepy, disembodied voices call her name, young Otilla comes upon a large house in the middle of the forest where she meets and bonds with a lonely skull. Soon they are dancing together in a silent, empty ballroom, and she is tenderly pouring tea into the skull's mouth—"'Ah, nice and warm,' said the skull. 'Thank you.'" Learning that the skull is being relentlessly hunted by a headless skeleton, Otilla stages an ambush that night and methodically smashes the bony bully to bits. The next morning when the skull, still (in a departure from the original story) a skull, thanks her and invites her to stay, she responds with typical restraint: "All right." Like the laconic, stretched-out narrative, the stripped-down art echoes with notes both gothic and comical; the tea bit has a slapstick feel, particularly as the skull is drawn with solid bone in place of jaws or teeth, and for all the intimate mutual regard that readers sensitive to emotional nuances will see developing between the lines, Otilla, who is likewise deadpan throughout, has staring eyes that will give even hardened fans of Edward Gorey shivers. In a perceptive source note, the author justifies the changes he has made with the insight that our brains automatically make every story we read or hear our own. VERDICT Twists aplenty for younger audiences in an eerie, atmospheric, and, unsurprisingly provocative outing.—John Edward Peters

Horn Book (Tue Dec 03 00:00:00 CST 2024)

One night...Otilla finally ran away.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

This eerie reworking of a Tyrolean folktale by Caldecott Medalist Klassen opens as pale-skinned young Otilla, lost in a snowy forest after running away, stumbles upon a mansion inhabited by a talking skull. Somber, digitally finished graphite and ink artwork imbues the forest and the mansion with shadowy verticality. The skull greets Otilla from a window with an uncomfortable but dryly funny proposition: “I will come down and let you in, but only if you promise to carry me once I do. I am just a skull, and rolling around is difficult for me.” Otilla agrees, and the skull shows her the abandoned home’s rooms, its bottomless pit, and its tall tower. Confiding as they go, the skull eventually mentions the headless skeleton that pursues it each night. Otilla falls easily into a caretaking role as the two eat pears, dance, and bed down in relative safety. When the skeleton appears, Otilla moves with an imaginatively cold-blooded finality that reflects both characters’ desire not to be pursued. Echoes of other forbidding fairy tales pervade this high-stakes telling, in which Otilla’s primal bravery and sly wit result in an arc from flight to mutual reliance. An author’s note concludes. Ages 6–9. Agent: Steve Malk, Writers House. (July)

Reviewing Agencies: - Find Other Reviewed Titles
Starred Review ALA Booklist (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)
School Library Journal Starred Review (Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
Horn Book (Tue Dec 03 00:00:00 CST 2024)
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
Word Count: 1,885
Reading Level: 3.1
Interest Level: 1-4
Accelerated Reader: reading level: 3.1 / points: 0.5 / quiz: 519795 / grade: Lower Grades
Guided Reading Level: N
Fountas & Pinnell: N
The Forest
The Dark
The House

Otilla ran and ran.
She ran through trees and
up hills. She ran for a long
time. All through the night.

Otilla had grown up in this forest,
but after a while the trees began
to look different. They were getting closer together.

Otilla kept running.
 
As she ran, Otilla began to hear her name being called. She couldn't tell if it was someone's voice or the wind in her ears.
 
"Otilllllaaa."
"Otiiiiillaaaaaa."
 
"Otilllllaaaaaaa."
"Otillll--"
 
Otilla suddenly tripped on a fallen branch and fell hard into the snow. She didn't get up. She could not run anymore. She listened for her name, but now it was quiet.
 
Otilla lay in the snow and the dark and the quiet and she cried.
 
When she was done crying,
she got up and began moving forward again.
 
All at once, the trees stopped. She came out of the woods and into an open yard. In front of
her, in the distance, was a very big, very old house.

Otilla went up to the house.
It looked abandoned, but when
she tried to open the door, it
was locked. She knocked loudly
to see if anyone was inside,
but nobody came to the door.
"Hello?" she called out.
"Hello," someone answered.
 
Otilla looked up to where the
voice had come from. In a window above the door, she saw a skull
looking at her.

Excerpted from The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

A #1 New York Times bestseller!
A Kirkus Book Prize Finalist!
A New York Times Best Children’s Chapter Book the Year
A Wall Street Journal Best Children's Book of the Year

Caldecott Medalist and New York Times best-selling author-illustrator Jon Klassen delivers a deliciously macabre treat for folktale fans.


Jon Klassen's signature wry humor takes a turn for the ghostly in this thrilling retelling of a traditional Tyrolean 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? Steeped in shadows and threaded with subtle wit—with rich, monochromatic artwork and an illuminating author’s note—The Skull is as empowering as it is mysterious and foreboding.


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