The Skull
A Tyrolean Fable
by Jon Klassen
2023
The Skull is the most recent kids' book by Jon Klassen. It's his take on a folk tale. As a joke, I might describe it as the Halloween version of I Want My Hat Back, but actually, I think the superficial spookiness of the skull imagery hides a more serious underlying darkness. Klassen's use of parallelism and subtext gives this brief tale a depth I wasn't expecting.
The story opens with a girl, Otilla, running through the forest, running away from home. She goes into the deepest, oldest part of the forest, and finds an ancient manor house. She knocks and asks to be let in. She's tired and needs a place to stay. She doesn't want the people who might be following her to find her. She doesn't want to go home, ever. Otilla is answered by a talking human skull, who lets her in once she agrees to carry him.
Otilla carries the skull as he gives her a tour of the house. It's clear he enjoys the company. By the end of the day, they might be friends. Otilla gets ready for bed, and tucks the skull in next to her. He warns her that every night, a headless skeleton enters the house, demands the skull, chases the skull, tries to capture it. So far the skull has always stayed away, but he's afraid. He doesn't want to be caught, ever. Otilla promises to protect him.
In the middle of the night, the headless skeleton appears and shouts for the skull in a booming voice. Otilla is barely able to keep her friend away. They're chased all over the house.
Then Otilla finds a way to get the upper hand. She incapacitates the skeleton, and tucks the skull back into bed. Then she systematically and vehemently destroys the skeleton. She returns to bed and assures the skull that the skeleton won't be back. He invites her to stay with him in the house, and she agrees.
We never explicitly learn what Otilla was running away from, only that she's afraid of being made to go back, and that she's happy to start a new life with her new friend. I think Otilla sees the skull as a kindred spirit. There's an obvious similarity between her situation and his desire to not be reconnected to the skeleton.
The ferocity of Otilla's violence against the skeleton is almost shocking, even for a fairy tale. It shows the strength of her emotion. It seems to symbolize what she'd like to do to whatever she's running away from. (Did Otilla also fear someone much larger coming in the middle of the night to pull her from bed?)
I don't know if kids will pick up on the implications here, or if that subtext will only be visible to adult readers. But I suspect they'll notice, at least, that the story is somewhat deeper than its surface, that Otilla's actions show she feels more than her placid face lets on. The friendship here seems strange, but it's based on an underlying similarity and mutual respect that goes beyond appearances.
Klassen's art is deceptively simple. If you've seen his other books, his style is instantly recognizable. He works in block shapes and speckled colors, and finds a way to include more emotional nuance than seems like should be possible. For most of the book, Otilla seems worried but displaying a calm she doesn't feel. When she destroys the skeleton, she has a kind of satisfied determination.
The story opens with a girl, Otilla, running through the forest, running away from home. She goes into the deepest, oldest part of the forest, and finds an ancient manor house. She knocks and asks to be let in. She's tired and needs a place to stay. She doesn't want the people who might be following her to find her. She doesn't want to go home, ever. Otilla is answered by a talking human skull, who lets her in once she agrees to carry him.
Otilla carries the skull as he gives her a tour of the house. It's clear he enjoys the company. By the end of the day, they might be friends. Otilla gets ready for bed, and tucks the skull in next to her. He warns her that every night, a headless skeleton enters the house, demands the skull, chases the skull, tries to capture it. So far the skull has always stayed away, but he's afraid. He doesn't want to be caught, ever. Otilla promises to protect him.
In the middle of the night, the headless skeleton appears and shouts for the skull in a booming voice. Otilla is barely able to keep her friend away. They're chased all over the house.
Then Otilla finds a way to get the upper hand. She incapacitates the skeleton, and tucks the skull back into bed. Then she systematically and vehemently destroys the skeleton. She returns to bed and assures the skull that the skeleton won't be back. He invites her to stay with him in the house, and she agrees.
We never explicitly learn what Otilla was running away from, only that she's afraid of being made to go back, and that she's happy to start a new life with her new friend. I think Otilla sees the skull as a kindred spirit. There's an obvious similarity between her situation and his desire to not be reconnected to the skeleton.
The ferocity of Otilla's violence against the skeleton is almost shocking, even for a fairy tale. It shows the strength of her emotion. It seems to symbolize what she'd like to do to whatever she's running away from. (Did Otilla also fear someone much larger coming in the middle of the night to pull her from bed?)
I don't know if kids will pick up on the implications here, or if that subtext will only be visible to adult readers. But I suspect they'll notice, at least, that the story is somewhat deeper than its surface, that Otilla's actions show she feels more than her placid face lets on. The friendship here seems strange, but it's based on an underlying similarity and mutual respect that goes beyond appearances.
Klassen's art is deceptively simple. If you've seen his other books, his style is instantly recognizable. He works in block shapes and speckled colors, and finds a way to include more emotional nuance than seems like should be possible. For most of the book, Otilla seems worried but displaying a calm she doesn't feel. When she destroys the skeleton, she has a kind of satisfied determination.
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