Frankie Stein Starts School

K-Gr 2—When Frankie is born to parents who look like members of the Addams Family, his blond hair and pink cheeks make him seem like an outsider. At night school—Miss Wart's Academy for Ghouls & Goblins—the kids make fun of him for being different, but he assures them he can be as scary or scarier than they are. And he is. He wins a black star for contorting his face and transforms his looks with glow-in-the-dark chalk when the other students color on paper. He makes a horrible sound like a coyote, and in the science corner he creates a fang-growing potion. By the end of his first night, the others are imitating Frankie and he has a new group of friends. Atteberry's digitally rendered illustrations are bright and cheerfully frightening with lots of smiling faces. They perfectly support Schaefer's amusing text. The use of vocabulary like "grotesque," "bloodcurdling," and "ghoulish" is a wonderful challenge for young readers. This follow-up to Frankie Stein (Marshall Cavendish, 2007) is a delightful choice for an October storytime.—Mary Hazelton, Elementary Schools in Warren & Waldoboro, ME