Frankenkitty
Maudie Powell-Tuck and Mini Grey
Little Tiger

There’s an adorable-looking kitty in the castle laboratory: is she or is she not responsible for all the terrible things that start happening?

“Here is a tale to chill the blood and thrill the soul—a tale of spooky paws and eerie claws… the tale of Frankenkitty” So begins the disembodied, talking skull narrator of this story that seems to be implying Frankenkitty, has been fashioned from many disparate parts. As his daughter Olive looks on, Frankenkitty’s inventor wails, “I’ve created a monster!” He goes on to tell her that they’re doomed on account of such things as slimy creatures in the bath, ‘spine-chilling sprouts … menacing moths! … slimy socks’.

The inventor is certain the castle is cursed despite what Olive thinks. Moreover the mummy starts unravelling and the mice terrorise the cook. Time to get rid of that loathsome creature decides the butler who proceeds to throw Frankenkitty out into the snow. Calm reigns. But could that adorable, forlorn-looking kitty be a cute creature after all? I wonder what listeners to the tale think. Do they agree with the inventor or his daughter?

The author includes plenty of horror motifs but essentially this tale is mock scary, and not likely to give readers nightmares even with Mini Grey’s splendidly detailed illustrations that are equally fun-scary in the way she shows the frights that abound within the that dark castle with ‘walls as grey as old knickers.’ – I love that.