John the Skeleton

Starred review from July 1, 2024
The things we fear don't seem so scary once we get to know them. John is a classroom skeleton who, after years of helping students learn about science, is retiring to a new home in Grams and Gramps' outdoor summer kitchen. After John inadvertently scares shoppers at the grocery store, Gramps repairs a few of his broken bones, and Grams dresses him up in an old coat and hat. He looks quite handsome. John fits right into his new family, saving the village from crooks and becoming a part of the stories that Gramps tells the grandchildren. He even takes part in an art exhibit in the city. More importantly, John offers quiet support to Gramps on difficult days and comfort to Grams on worried days. Translated from Estonian, Laan's vignettes of life with John the Skeleton complement the illustrations--simple yet profound. Plats' art is quirky but not scary. Her grayscale images make deft use of cross-hatching; mood-busting hot pink punctuates the illustrations, from a scene of John making a snow angel to a depiction of the grandchildren rescuing snails in the garden. His presence feels symbolic, an acknowledgment that aging and death are facts of life; the story will encourage readers to care for one another and to appreciate the little things. Characters have paper-white skin. A magical book that allows death to become a beloved part of life. (about John) (Fiction. 6-12)

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Starred review from July 22, 2024
A dry, quirky story from Estonian creators Laan and Plats introduces an elderly couple who give a home to a skeleton, John—once a fixture in a science classroom. In short, episodic sections peppered with colloquialisms, Grams and Gramps slip John into a warm jacket, situate the figure on their farm deep in the woods, and embark on a mutually satisfying relationship. John soon proves an intimidating presence to two would-be burglars, comforts the couple after experiences they dread (Grams feels about tree-pruning
“the way Gramps does about haircuts: restless and worried”), and receives care and camaraderie (after a bath with the couple’s grandchildren, John feels “like the happiest skeleton in the entire world”). Folk-naif pencil illustrations with beet-red highlights combine gentle humor with tender observation, as in a bird’s-eye view of Gramps’s hands repairing John’s skeletal ones. And when the line between life and death blurs further in this lightly other-
worldly read, John offers true companionship—as early text wisely states, “Growing up is easier when you have others around to guide you.” Character skin tones frequently reflect the white of the page. Ages 5–8.

September 1, 2024
Grades 1-4 This odd but deeply charming Estonian import stars a skeleton named John, who, after a long career as a classroom skeleton, retires to the country and moves in with the affable, idiosyncratic couple of Grams and Gramps. In episodic vignettes, John rides in a car, comically scares off a pair of robbers, sweats in the family sauna, and enjoys brief fame as part of an art installation. But the plot points take a back seat to the overall tone evoked by the cheerful cartoon illustrations splashed with shocking pink, which render John in a style that manages to be both macabre and cute in equal measure, and the frank musings from Grams and Gramps about independence, family, aging, and death. It's a bit inevitable, as the elderly couple tends to and grows to love the old skeleton, that death becomes a theme, but there's a matter-of-fact acceptance of death here that is sweet and somehow comforting. While this off-kilter little book might not find wide appeal, the right reader (perhaps even adults) will be thoroughly enchanted.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

November 1, 2024
This reflective, folksy book explores concepts of memory, life, death, and everything surrounding them. The story follows a skeleton named John -- a discarded educational tool who is taken in and fixed up by an elderly couple, Gramps and Grams. Though a static figure in the illustrations, John is portrayed in the text with liveliness, warmth, and depth; he is described thinking, speaking, and feeling as he offers comfort and companionship to Gramps and Grams and their two grandchildren. With his new family, John bathes, sleds, takes saunas, and even participates in a museum exhibition. At one point, Gramps and Grams plot to bury John with Gramps when he passes away, but Grams dies first. Gramps, grieving, has a magical encounter with Grams's spirit through the word pahnahaitsmetsai, which translates to "linden-blossom tea." He later teaches the word to his grandchildren so that "it can keep them together forever." The direct third-person present-tense text uses short, vignette-style chapters, adding an immediacy to the telling. The art, using textured shades of gray that appear to be rendered with pencil alongside striking pops of bright pink, creates a feel that is both haunting and fresh. An endnote explains that the book was inspired by another retired classroom skeleton who lives on a farm in the south Estonian countryside. Elisa Gall

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2024
This reflective, folksy book explores concepts of memory, life, death, and everything surrounding them. The story follows a skeleton named John -- a discarded educational tool who is taken in and fixed up by an elderly couple, Gramps and Grams. Though a static figure in the illustrations, John is portrayed in the text with liveliness, warmth, and depth; he is described thinking, speaking, and feeling as he offers comfort and companionship to Gramps and Grams and their two grandchildren. With his new family, John bathes, sleds, takes saunas, and even participates in a museum exhibition. At one point, Gramps and Grams plot to bury John with Gramps when he passes away, but Grams dies first. Gramps, grieving, has a magical encounter with Grams's spirit through the word pahnahaitsmetsai, which translates to "linden-blossom tea." He later teaches the word to his grandchildren so that "it can keep them together forever." The direct third-person present-tense text uses short, vignette-style chapters, adding an immediacy to the telling. The art, using textured shades of gray that appear to be rendered with pencil alongside striking pops of bright pink, creates a feel that is both haunting and fresh. An endnote explains that the book was inspired by another retired classroom skeleton who lives on a farm in the south Estonian countryside.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)