The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale

 
　　某個夜晚，當大家都還在沉睡，有個名叫歐提菈的勇敢女孩決定逃跑，逃離可怕的危險。歐提菈置身於漆黑的森林中，有棟荒廢的大房子出現在她眼前。房子的主人是一個只有頭的骷髏，歐提菈和骷髏頭很快建立起友誼。骷髏頭告訴歐提菈，每天夜裡總有個東西會追著他跑，讓他感到很害怕。歐提菈決心幫助她的新朋友，她能夠憑藉勇氣，拯救自己和骷髏頭嗎？
 
　　這是雍．卡拉森（Jon Klassen）第五本同時擔任作繪者的創作，以相較一般繪本更長的112頁篇幅，將讀者帶往迷人的異色國度。森林中的陰森房子、會說話的骷髏頭，集結了恐怖故事的經典元素。雍．卡拉森以拿手的黑色幽默，灰黑為主的色調，搭配些許粉橘色光線照入，巧妙呼應故事的調性，營造出有點黑暗卻又不會太過嚇人的氛圍。
 
　　雍．卡拉森回憶到：「我小時候去圖書館，總會去恐怖或懸疑故事區，但到現在為止，我還沒創作過一本符合這個類型的書，我想這本書會是個好的嘗試。」The Skull的靈感來自於中歐的傳統民間故事，雍．卡拉森的版本則對結局做了不太一樣的詮釋，如同他的其他作品，懸疑的情節背後，保留了讀者自由想像的空間。
 
　　雍．卡拉森也提到如何在學校圖書館找到這則故事，而記憶的重塑又如何賦予故事另一種面貌。他認為：「民間故事本來就該隨著說故事的人而改變，你不會聽到兩次一模一樣的故事。」故事隨著時間變形重塑，透過不同時代人們的口述筆傳，在其中留下各自的印記，讓每個版本都不完全相同，卻都有各自迷人的特質，或許這正是民間故事代代流傳、歷久不衰的魅力。（文／博客來外文館）

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.

Jon Klassen is the creator of the #1 New York Times best-selling I Want My Hat Back, which won a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor, and its companions: This Is Not My Hat, which won a Caldecott Medal and a Kate Greenaway Medal, and We Found a Hat, named a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year. He is also the author-illustrator of The Rock from the Sky and the illustrator of Extra Yarn, Sam and Dave Dig a Hole, Triangle, Square, and Circle, all by Mac Barnett; House Held Up by Trees by Ted Kooser; the Skunk and Badger series by Amy Timberlake; and the middle-grade Pax series by Sara Pennypacker. Originally from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Jon Klassen now lives in Los Angeles.