SuitabookMary who wrote Frankenstein
Linda Bailey
- Reading
- Read together if the graveyard and monster imagery might be unsettling. Pause to examine how pictures create mood, then invite the child to invent a story from an ordinary dream or thought.
- Themes
- Imagination and creative beginnings: Mary’s solitary thoughts, books and waking dream are presented as part of the path towards creating Frankenstein. The book presents this favourably.
- Women’s authorship and recognition: The closing account notes that people refused to believe a woman had written Frankenstein. The book presents that disbelief as an obstacle and ends by affirming that writers can dream stories awake and asleep.
- Science, responsibility and the monster: Mary encounters scientific ideas, particularly galvanism, while developing a ghost story about a monster brought to life. The book presents this mainly as information or explanation.
- Worth knowing
- The illustrations and story include graves, a monster made from dead body parts, ghost-story imagery, storms and a frightening waking dream; reactions may vary.