- Illustrated Chapter Books
- Ages 6–10
- Fairy Tales
The Skull
A strange, funny and spooky illustrated folktale about a runaway girl and a talking skull. Best for children who like dark fairytales, Jon Klassen's deadpan humour and stories that are eerie but oddly cosy.
- Best for6–10
- FormatIllustrated
- Length112 pp
- Read aloud~45 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Literary
- Conversational
- Comedic
Tone
- Dark
- Funny
- Suspenseful
- Whimsical
- Thought provoking
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
Otilla runs away through the forest and finds a large, lonely house inhabited by a talking skull. The skull is polite, mysterious and in need of help, and Otilla soon discovers that something frightening visits the house at night. Jon Klassen adapts a Tyrolean folktale into a spare, atmospheric illustrated adventure with his trademark stillness, dry humour and perfectly weighted menace. At 112 pages, The Skull is longer than a standard picture book, but its short text, generous illustrations and folktale pacing make it highly accessible as a shared read. The story has genuine spooky elements: skull imagery, night pursuit and implied danger, but it is also funny, odd and emotionally satisfying. It is ideal for readers who have outgrown cosy picture books but are not yet ready for full middle-grade horror.
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
- 1
- 3
- 5
- 7
- 9
- 11
- 13
- Best fit · 6–10
- Read aloud · 6–10
- Independent · 7–11
Prose load
Light
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Preview before sharing if a child is sensitive to: scary imagery, death of character.
Bedtime suitability
2 / 5 · Better outside bedtime
Sensitive-child
2 / 5 · Use judgement
Graphic intensity
3 / 5 · Some
Best for
- Spooky but funny
- Dark fairytale
- Jon klassen
- Illustrated folktale
- Older picture book readers
Avoid if
- Very sensitive to skulls
- Under 6
- Wants cosy bedtime
Particularly good for children who are…
- Nightmares or fears
- Reluctant reader
- Anxiety and worry
In the classroom
How it works in school.
Jon Klassen's eerie, funny folk tale — a wonderful read-aloud with a clear, retellable story and plenty to infer and discuss.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with. Reviewed for the classroom · June 2026.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The specific weight is the night visitor — Otilla running away through the forest, finding a polite skull in a lonely house, the something less polite that comes back every night. The Klassen Tyrolean folktale retelling that's eerie and oddly cosy at once.
- Surviving danger
- Secret world
- Friendship and belonging
Why parents love it
The Jon Klassen at 112 pages — Tyrolean folktale, spare text and generous illustration, his trademark stillness and dry menace stretched into chapter-book length. Genuinely unsettling and genuinely beautiful. Best read aloud with lamps low; bridges picture book and middle-grade horror.
- Shared humour
- Beautiful illustrations
- Great writing
- Conversation starter
About the author & illustrator
Jon Klassen.
If you liked this
Three ways out of this book.
If you liked this, try…
Lateral matches. Same shelf, different texture.
Come into this from…
Easier or preparing reads — perfect lead-ins.
Where to go next…
Escalation reads — a step up in scale, silliness, or stakes.
More like this…
Books that share themes and topics with this one.
Where you’ll find it
On these reading lists.
Buy or borrow
Pick up a copy.
- Bookshop.org ↗
- Waterstones ↗
- Amazon UK ↗
- Hive ↗
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