Skulls!

April 8, 2019
Skulls can be scary looking, but, this book proposes, they are precious things. “You probably don’t think much about skulls,” opens Thornburgh (Who’s That Girl), addressing the reader in a confiding tone. But everyone has one, and “skulls are safe and snug, like a car seat for your brain.” With a deft blend of yuckiness and hilarity, Campbell (Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy) draws a little skull on four wheels with a brain enclosed safely inside. Thornburgh expounds on her subject’s virtues: “Skulls have holes in them... for sounds, for light, for air, for grilled cheese sandwiches.” Some are afraid of skulls, she admits, but the reader is surely not one of those: “You love having a safe place to keep your brain.” Including readers in this group of rational humans makes Thornburgh’s ending message especially effective. “Take care of your skull,” the text advises, as Campbell shows a girl and her grinning skull in a bicycle helmet, “because you only get one.” Sometimes, this highly entertaining disquisition reminds readers, things that seem frightening at first can become quite wonderful once you get to know them. Ages 4–8.

June 15, 2019
A celebration of that thing everyone has to hold eyes, nose, and teeth in place. Thornburgh urges readers to appreciate their skulls, which are not only "safe and snug, like a car seat for your brain," but come with convenient holes for seeing, hearing, and chowing down on grilled-cheese sandwiches. Even without noses (which are "more of a cartilage thing"), skulls also give faces a good shape and, despite what some people think, really aren't trying to be scary. Campbell's cartoon illustrations feature racially diverse humans, animals, or crowds whose heads switch back and forth between smiling flesh and X-ray views with the turn of a page. Assurances notwithstanding, they tend to undermine that last claim--at least at first. Still, any initial startlement should soon give way to a willingness to echo the author's "I love my skull!" A page of "Cool Skull Facts!" opposite a final, fairly anatomically correct image gives this good odds of becoming a STEM and storytime favorite. (Informational picture book. 5-7) Readers who have never thought of it before will agree: "Take care of your skull, because you only get one."

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July 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 2-Thornburgh explains why we have skulls and why they look as they do. A goggle-eyed girl guides readers through crowds and then introduces a variety of folks and animals, some with X-rayed heads. The narrator shows how skulls give heads shape and keep teeth in place, and discusses why there are holes. She notes, "Skulls are not trying to be scary. They can't help the way they look." At the book's conclusion, Thornburgh provides a list of fast facts about skulls, such as body weight percentage and definitions of words such as orbits. Campbell's watercolor illustrations feature rounded figures involved in various upbeat activities. VERDICT The carefree tone and tidbits of humor, such as the girl's love of grilled cheese sandwiches, make this an amusing introduction for young students of the human body.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Grades K-3 A girl gets a bit of a scare when this book's narrator informs her that every head of every person you've ever seen . . . has a skull inside. Suddenly the faces of the men, women, children, and animals around her disappear to reveal grinning skulls of various sizes and shapes. Despite this startling development, the narrator assures her (and readers) that This is a good thing. The girl's fear is quickly replaced by curiosity, and simplified facts about skulls are playfully relayed for the remainder of the book. Skulls are safe and snug, like a car seat for your brain, the text attests, as a four-wheeled skull cruises by with a cute, pink brain smiling inside. Readers will also learn that skulls give faces their shape, hold teeth in place, and have holes for light, sound, air, and grilled cheese sandwiches. The book's silly tone is gleefully evident in Campbell's watercolor illustrations and guaranteed to get kids giggling and proclaiming, I love my skull! Concluding Cool Skull Facts offer readers more precise information.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
A girl with puffball pigtails contentedly chomps on an apple amid a quirky crowd. The next spread repeats the tableau--but with all the faces (except the girl's) shown as skulls. With snappy writing Thornburgh describes a skull's importance (it's "a car seat for your brain") and its functions, while Campbell packs plenty of humor into his muted watercolors. "Cool Skull Facts" are appended.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)