August 30 – Frankenstein Day

Happy Frankenstein Day!

Today is the anniversary of Mary Shelly’s birthday, the author of Frankenstein. She wrote the story for a friendly competition between herself and her some of her friends as to who could write the best horror story. She was only eighteen years old at the time. Her story was first published anonymously when she was twenty years old. Her name did not appear on the book until the second printing, five years later.

Here are three not-so-terrifying picture books to share today.

Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parody by Ludworst Bemonster (2012)                                              (author, Rick Walton and illustrator, Nathan Hale)

This monstrous parody on Ludwig Bemelmans’s 1940 Caldecott Honor Award Winner, Madeline, will delight today’s readers. It even got a ‘CaldeNOT Horror’ award.

Frankenstein was the ugliest monster in Miss Devel’s ‘creepy old castle all covered with spines’. Every night at nine, the twelve little monsters left the castle to wreak havoc on the neighborhood. And Frankenstein was the worst of all. He scared people, animals, and even rocks. Then on terrible night, Miss Devel woke up realizing something was not right. When she checked on the sleeping monsters, she saw that Frankenstein laid still… because he had lost his head! None of the monsters confessed to eating his head. Frankenstein was carried to the laboratory where he was given a brand-new head, with two new screws on his neck.  All the other monsters cried that they wanted to stay in the laboratory with Frankenstein. They all wanted new heads with new screws on their necks. That night, Miss Devel awoke again. When she checked on the monsters, she found that they had all lost their heads!

Check out this adorable book trailer:

Do Not Build a Frankenstein! written and illustrated by Neil Numberman (2009)

When a new kid moves into town, with a piece of very important advice, the rest of the kids gather around to listen. The new kid advises everyone NOT to build a Frankenstein. He explains how he spent his whole life researching, building a laboratory, and finding just the right parts only to have a Frankenstein who becomes pretty annoying. He chases away your friends, breaks all your toys, and follows you everywhere. So even though the new kid moved to a new town, his Frankenstein followed him there. When the monster makes a surprise appearance, all the kids gasp, but then they see how much fun Frankenstein can be, and play Monster Tag. Everyone runs off, leaving the new kid all alone on his soapbox… until he runs after them shouting, “Hey! Wait for me!”

Dracula and Frankenstein Are Friends written by Katherine Tegen  and illustrated by Doug Cushman (2003)

Dracula and Frankenstein are next door neighbors in a very creepy neighborhood. They hang out together at The Creepy Cafe where they talk about their work. One day, Frankenstein told Dracula that he might have a Halloween Party. Dracula loved the idea, in fact he loved it so much he planned his own Halloween Party. He even made sure that Frankenstein’s invitations never got mailed. On Halloween night, all of their friends arrived at Dracula’s house for an all-out costume party, and Frankenstein sat alone in his decorated house with no friends. Dracula’s party lost its fizz when he looked out his window and saw Frankenstein sitting all alone. In a moment of charity, Dracula packed up his party and moved it next door to Frankenstein’s house… HAPPY HALLOWEEN!