Frankenstein, A Monstrous Parody

Picture book, 48 pages. Published by Square Fish in 2016.

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Good-hearted Laughter

Do you remember Bemelmans' Madeline?  These books were a staple in our home simply because Little Madeline was delightfully real and always causing some sort of trouble - even when she was being good!  I stumbled across Frankenstein in my search for excellent picture books for All Hallows' Read and laughed and laughed and laughed - the poetry and the images are a definite send up of Madeline.

"In an old house in Paris
that was covered with vines
lived twelve little girls
in two straight lines
the smallest one was Madeline."

"In a creepy old castle
all covered with spines,
lived twelve ugly monsters
in two crooked lines."

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Ideas for Making it Real

Halloween is a wonderful time of year for all sorts activities to help a favorite story to stick in a child's mind.  If you don't have time for anything else, you can extend Frankenstein by reading Madeline at the same time.

But if you do have time, here are few ideas to jump start your own creativity:

• Make two paper doll chains, one with monsters and one with Madeline, to decorate for Halloween! Aunt Annie's Crafts How to Make Paper Doll Chains gives basic directions which just needs you to create templates of a little Frankenstein monster and Madeline.
  
• Have a dance party to Bobby Picket's 1962 Monster Mash - your kiddos will love it!
• Ask your child how they would rewrite their favorite children's story for Halloween? Don't be surprised or alarmed if your child seems a bit more bloodthirsty than you anticipated - my Little Guy is fascinated with missing heads just now!

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