John the Skeleton

by Triinu Laan, Adam Cullen (Translator), Marja-Liisa Plats (Illustrator)

Overview

2022 Bologna Children's Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition winner

2021 The White Ravens catalog

2021 Tartu Prize for Children’s Literature

Everyone deserves a quiet, restful retirement. But for John, a newly retired classroom skeleton, life is just beginning. When John is adopted by Grams and Gramps and leaves the classroom to live on their farm, every day is an exciting new adventure: John rides in the car for the first time, makes a snow angel, scares away crooks, and becomes a source of comfort for Grams, Gramps, and their grandkids. With delightful illustrations and a charming cast of characters, John the Skeleton is a quirky, touching, and unforgettable book. Triinu Laan thoughtfully weaves aging and death into the fabric of life, crafting a tender portrait of what it means to care for one another, grow old together, and appreciate the little things.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632063717
Publisher:	Yonder
Publication date:	10/01/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Triinu Laan is a writer, a manager of cultural activities, a mother of five, and loves wild living more than anything else. Laan lives with her three youngest children, mathematician husband, and self-conscious cat in the countryside in Võru County. Their home language is Võro, which is spoken by about 70,000 people, primarily in south Estonia. Her stories convey the understanding that the worlds of adults and children, the living and the dead, and humans and animals are not so different as one may think.

Adam Cullen is a freelance translator of Estonian prose, poetry, and drama. His translations include novels by Mihkel Mutt (The Cavemen Chronicle, nominated for the 2015 Cultural Endowment of Estonia’s Prize for Literary Translation), Rein Raud (The Brother and The Reconstruction, nominated for the 2017 Cultural Endowment of Estonia’s Prize for Literary Translation), Kai Aareleid (Burning Cities), and Tonu Onnepalu (Radio). Cullen’s debut collection of original poetry, Lichen / Samblik, was published in 2017. Originally from Minnesota, he has resided in Estonia since 2007.

Marja-Liisa Plats is an illustrator, graphic designer, photographer, and singer. She graduated from Tartu Art College in photography and is a member of the Young Authors' Association in Tartu and the Tartu Artists' Union. Plats has illustrated more than 40 children’s books and regularly contributes to the children’s magazine Täheke. She has received extensive recognition for her works and has been listed in the White Ravens catalogue three times.

Editorial Reviews

★ 07/22/2024

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. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly