Victoria Assanelli's Haunting new work!

Get in the mood for Halloween with this beautiful, bittersweet story of love, loss and acceptance powerfully illustrated by the wonderfully versatile Victoria Assanelli! When Stanley Stanwright finds a bone poking out of the earth in his back garden, he is determined to take a picture of it and send it to the Young Discoverer's Competition, but soon the bone begins to grow into a skeleton with an unusual interest in his unwell younger sister Miren.

Victoria’s haunting illustrations are exquisitely on point for this unique contemporary folk tale, with her skeleton, Princy, striking the perfect balance between appealing and sinister. Her bold monochrome interior illustrations similarly echo the stark reality of a family in crisis whilst also skilfully managing to convey a quiet optimism, as she helps children navigate this story of humour and tragedy with a subtle and gentle hand.

Victoria says of the commission:

'Working on the Skeleton Tree book was such a wonderful experience. I enjoyed the story and the characters immensely, and I loved having the chance to do something different from my normal type of work. I love princesses and fairytales, but I also really love creepy things and I was very pleased to have the chance to work on something a bit darker than usually do!'

Ultimately a story of love, and realising when love sometimes means saying goodbye, we make no bones about saying that Skeleton Tree is an Autumn ‘must read’!

Get your copy here!