| Monsters -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Birthdays -- Juvenile fiction. |
| Humorous fiction. |
| Fiction. |
Available:*
Audience | Shelf Location | Material Type | Shelf Number | Current Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kids/Juvenile | Picture books | Book | E WEEKS | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Piece by piece, a mad scientist attempts to assemble his build-your-own Frankenstein in time to celebrate the monster's Halloween birthday. Much like a child following "simple instructions" as he tries to put together a toy, the poor frantic inventor hums and babbles to himself as he throws legs, arms, red sneakers, and a polka-dot party hat all over his wild and wacky laboratory.
With illustrations by celebrated collagist Warren Linn, the medium is indeed the message here, with torn paper on wood serving as the perfect foil for the put it together, take it apart, put it together again theme. Any child or parent who's ever tried to assemble a toy, following the so-called simple instructions, will laugh at the surprise ending.
Author Notes
Sarah weeks was born March 18, 1955 in Ann Arbor Michigan. She received her BA from Hampshire College and her MFA from New York University. Sarah is the author of numerous best-selling children's books including Glamourpuss, Woof!: A Love Story, Sophie Peterman Tells the Truth, If I Were a Lion, the hilarious Mrs. McNosh series, and many more.
Sarah's book, So B. It, made the New York Times bestseller list in 2015.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3 Deep within his laboratory, a scientist attempts to assemble a Frankenstein-like monster. As he fumbles through several false starts and ungainly constructions, he mutters parts of that old song, "the leg bone's connected to ." Finally completed, the monster is presented with a birthday jack-o'-lantern. The force of Frankie's breath as he blows out the candle, however, blasts the doctor to pieces, leaving the monster to reconstruct his creator. Linn's paint and paper-collage illustrations feature a scientist with a triangular nose and gap-toothed grin reminiscent of David Shannon's protagonist in No, David! (Scholastic, 1998). The layout is confusing and busy, much like the doctor. Children may enjoy the concept of the scientist who doesn't know which body parts go where, but the illustrations are too cluttered to pick out exactly what mistakes he is making. The spare text is adequate, but after the rollicking rhythm of Weeks's Mrs. McNosh Hangs up Her Wash (HarperFestival, 1998), this one lacks flair. A serviceable Halloween offering that doesn't quite come together. Martha Link, Louisville Free Public Library, KY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Shoes, screws and mechanical hands lie scattered across the endpapers of this picture book, which posits a do-it-yourself Frankenstein. The monster-making kit comes in a big cardboard box, accompanied by instructions ("Screw elbow (A) to (B) to arm.... glue zipper (C) to head assembly"). As a scientist tries and fails to put the parts together, clever collage illustrations reveal the misbegotten results: "The leg bone's connected to the... Oh, dear. The arm bone's connected to the... Nope." At last, Frankie is complete; his blue skull is zippered, his eyes and nose are in place and his corrugated-cardboard limbs swivel properly. Unfortunately, he blows out his birthday candle with such gusto that he disassembles his creatorÄthe book ends with an image of a puzzled Frankie with a wrench in hand. Held together by glue, gesso and a few photocopied rivets, debut illustrator Linn's asymmetrical paint-and-cut-paper monster recalls Henrik Drescher's sinister clip-and-paste images. Weeks (Mrs. McNosh Hangs up Her Wash) keeps the narration to a bare minimum and lets the pictures do most of the storytelling. Kids will relish the goofy use of a favorite song, and they'll appreciate the brio of Linn's postmodern high jinks. Ages 3-7. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Ages 5^-8. Anyone who has ever shuddered at the words "some assembly required" will sympathize with the frizzy-haired professor in a lab coat who labors to assemble a do-it-yourself Frankenstein monster from a box of disparate parts. The creature (with a blue face and snazzy forehead zipper) comes together just in time for his (its?) birthday. Oh, no, professor, don't stand in front of Frankie when he blows out those candles! Too late. The doc, who looks a bit stitched together himself, falls to pieces but, fortunately, the monster has a wrench, which makes it easy to connect the leg bone to the thigh bone to the . . . A slight but wacky, engaging story with droll, piecemeal pictures to match. --Michael Cart