By Sara E. Hoffmann, School & Library Series Managing Editor
I just love fall. Love it. I like summer too, so I’m sad to see it go, but the changing leaves? Apple cider? Pumpkins—and pumpkin everything? They make me so happy. And one of the things I love best about fall is Halloween. I mean, who can’t appreciate this day of candy, kids in costume, and all-around spooky fun?
And you guys! We don’t even have to wait to get in the Halloween spirit. (And not only because Halloween stuff is already cropping up in stores.) Because today is Frankenstein Day! August 30 was Mary Shelley‘s birthday in 1797, so it has become the day to unofficially celebrate her most famous character.
What better time than this penultimate day of August / We’re-Almost-to-Fall day to celebrate one of my very favorite symbols of Halloween? Of course, Frankenstein was technically the name of the scientist who created the green guy with the bolts in his neck, not of the monster himself. But the name Frankenstein has become synonymous with that scar-bearing, creepy-eyed, and yet somehow kinda-cute creature (or is it just me who thinks he’s cute?). And so today, we celebrate him.
Frankenstein Books (or, Franken-Books)
Lerner thinks Frankenstein is worth celebrating too. Here are just a few books about the monster—and some of his best friends.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (I’d start here—it’s the original, after all. Available from Lerner as a First Avenue Classics edition.)
A Valentine for Frankenstein by Leslie Kimmelman, illustrated by Timothy Banks.
Detective Frankenstein by Alaya Johnson, illustrated by Yuko Ota.
Movie Monsters from Godzilla to Frankenstein by Krystyna Poray Goddu.
Frankenkids by Annie Graves, illustrated by Glenn McElhinney.
My Boyfriend Is a Monster: Made for Each Other by Paul D. Storrie, illustrated by Eldon Cowgur.
Happy Reading, Happy Fall, and Happy Frankenstein Day!