Pages

Saturday, 4 June 2016

Review: Frankencrayon

Do you think the cover of this book looks intriguing? Perhaps the idea of a Frankenstein’s monster crayon has you itching to open the cover?

Well, sorry. Too bad. This book has been cancelled. You need to put the book down and find something else to read.

The crayons are annoyed. Plans were underway for a performance of Frankenstein. Everything was going smoothly. The costumes were coming along nicely and everyone knew their lines, then suddenly the lights went out and when they came back on there was... scribble! All across the page! Then more scribble and more. Clean up was impossible. The book was ruined!

With personality-filled crayons reminiscent of Drew Daywalt’s The Day the Crayons Quit and warnings to abandon the story that reminded me of the classic There’s a Monster at the End of this Book, Frankencrayon constantly tries to convince readers that the mysterious appearance of scribble is too much to bear. They are advised to find something better to read while the crayons try to solve the mystery of where the scribble came from and how they can clean it up.

Frankencrayon is a fun story to read with young children – there is lots of potential for dramatic voices and suspense. The dialogue between the crayons is entertaining as their emotions range from anticipation and excitement to despair, frustration, confusion and sadness. Make sure you read the comments and asides on the dust jacket as well and see if you can guess where the scribble came from before you reach the final page.

Title: Frankencrayon
Author/Illustrator: Michael Hall
Publisher: HarperCollins US, $24.99
Publication Date: 2 January 2016
Format: Hardcover with dust jacket
ISBN: 9780062252111
For ages: 4 - 8
Type: Picture Book