The Skeleton by Malin Klingenberg and Maria Sann has been nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize. It is a clever picture book on overcoming fears, growing up, and getting better after an injury. The title has already been sold to three territories.
The Skeleton by Malin Klingenberg and Maria Sann has been nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize: it tells the story of Teo, a young boy who is very afraid of skeletons and runs into one at a Halloween party. As a result, he runs in the opposite direction and falls, only to end up in hospital with a broken bone and the horrible news that there is a skeleton inside of him too.
It is the premise of a witty, funny story about overcoming fears, growing up, and recovering from injuries. The jury has stated as follows:
“Malin Klingenberg’s and Maria Sann’s picture book Skelettet (“The Skeleton”, not translated into English) is told from a supportive and sympathetic child’s perspective throughout. Teo struggles with understanding the skeleton as both reality and metaphor, as something that exists both outside and within himself. Based on his own imagination and in play, he tackles the existential questions these skeletons raise. The theme and the drama are firmly anchored in Teo’s view of life, and thus portray a child’s ability to understand and create meaning in life in their own way: “I wonder if my skeleton likes being in my body? I wonder if my skeleton also gets sweaty when I run? I wonder if my skeleton dreams of being able to scare people at an amusement park? I wonder if my skeleton will miss me when I die?
Klingenberg’s concise text and dynamic dialogue are surrounded by Sann’s thoughtful imagery. On the effectively blackened cover, Teo stands eye to eye with a grinning (or friendly smiling?) skeleton which is covered in phosphorescent paint and so glows in the dark. Darkness returns in the form of well-judged spreads where dark and light combine to create a fascinating X-ray effect, such as when Teo’s mother holds up her hand against the bedside lamp to show him that she also has a skeleton inside her. Sann seamlessly makes a picture book from the story by surprising readers with varied spreads, unexpected perspectives, and responsiveness to how the sensitive boy protagonist is portrayed.
Skelettet is a seemingly simple picture book with the ability to evolve with repeated reading. Klingenberg and Sann handle the story’s existential themes with finesse. In a touching and child-friendly way, seriousness is interspersed with warm and playful comedy. As the cover of the picture book shows, we all carry a potential “monster” within us. Or at least a skeleton of our own that we can embrace and become friends with.”
Malin Klingenberg is an established Swedish-speaking Finnish authors, whose work has travelled to several territories. Illustrator Maria Sann made her debut in 2019 and has been receiving glowing reviews for her work since. This is their second collaboration.
The Skeleton has been sold for Latvian, Korean and World Dutch, and it is published in Finland by Schildts & Söderströms.
Congratulations to the authors and the publishers, and fingers crossed!