The Pine Needle Child

Klara Bartilsson

On a windy fall morning, there is a knock at the door, and a lone pine needle child with twiggy legs steps into the cottage. She sheds needles like an old Christmas tree, and Micky, Britten, and Jones ask if she is hungry. She licks the jam off a sandwich and climbs in the doll bed. Then she sits there, shedding needles. Micky combs her with a scrub brush. They sweep and shovel all the time, but still prick their paws. There are needles everywhere! Finally, Jones has had enough and shouts that he hates everything that pricks. The next morning, the pine needle child is gone.

Klara Bartilsson’s first solo picture book The Pine Needle Child is a playful and uniquely prickly picture book drama that hits right in the heart. The text and illustrations are quirky, atmospheric, and warmly humorous.

Klara Bartilsson is an illustrator, visual artist, and pattern designer educated at HDK in Gothenburg. The picture book Mom Is in Trouble (2023), written by Daniel Sjölin, was recently awarded the Spårhunden prize for the year’s best children’s and young adult crime fiction.

Awards

Nominated for the August Prize 2024

“Klara Bartilsson fully masters the inherent power of storytelling to make the abstract visible and comprehensible. Here, everyone’s empathy is awakened by the needle-clad Neely, whose endless needle-shedding is both threatening and touching. Opening Bartilsson’s picture book is like stepping into a mirror world, different from ours on the outside but with the same rules. Here as there, you can never overestimate the importance of a hug.” The August Prize jury

Other books by Klara Bartilsson