Frankenstein

by Larry Weinberg (Editor, Adapter), Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, Ken Barr (Illustrator)

Victor Frankenstein learns the secret of producing life, and so, by putting together parts of various corpses, he creates the Frankenstein monster. The monster is huge and disformed, but he means no harm to anyone--until constant ill treatment drives him to murder and revenge. This easy-to-read version of Mary Shelley's long-standing masterpiece easily captures the sadness and horror of the original.

Adapted by Larry Weinberg

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Classics

94 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Selene Sublett · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I thrifted this book, I thought it was the REAL Frankenstein book… it’s not. It’s like an easy to read version of Frankenstein. It was short and easy to read. It was a good story, I kind of feel bad for the Monster. But anyways maybe I’ll read the real book one day haha!

[Cora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific for 2nd graders!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was my first time experiencing Frankenstein, and I thought it was incredibly done - I was able to understand exactly what was happening and even better, my class enjoyed the book as well! :)

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great way to introduce an amazing classic to children in a less convoluted writing style. It was also perfect for discussing how people react to the unknown and things we don't understand. I definitely recommend it to all the budding horror lovers and for the parents who want their children to read more.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the perfect level for my 4th grader to read. It had most of the important plot points of the original, but the sentences were incredibly short, which made it awkward as a read aloud.

But it was nice to share my favorite novel with my 9 year old.

[JayD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Larry Weinstein's "Frankenstein" is a simplified children's version of "Frankenstein or a Modern Prometheus", which was written by Mary Shelley in the 19th century as a scary story to amuse her friends. The original is a frame story: an Arctic explorer finds a man, Victor Frankenstein, half frozen on an ice floe and, before he dies, he tells the captain about the living monster he created and is now trying to kill. After Frankenstein dies, the monster appears and grieves over 'his dead father' and says he is heading out onto the ice to put an end to his miserable life. This children's version omits the starting frame and retells only what Frankenstein says to the captain, from creating the monster to chasing him to the Arctic to try to destroy him.

The main change in this simplified retelling is in replacing Shelley's archaic language with simple modern words. The central story remains intact, including the monster's strangling Frankenstein's little brother, new bride, and best friend, and the unjust hanging of his maid for murder. It does tell how Frankenstein made his monster from parts of dead bodies, without going into the same detail as the original, and how Frankenstein made and then destroyed a bride for the monster. This should be enough to set an age limit for a child reader: even though the written language is suitable for a 5-6 years old, most children under 7 would probably have nightmares from it.

In addition to its main purpose of introducing children to a classical story, the adapter has done an excellent job of retaining the pathos. The monster is not a monster in his own eyes, only in those of the humans he terrifies. He becomes a real monster only out of fear and loneliness. There's a moral in all that: treat people like monsters and they may become monstrous. As an example of the language level:

"Day and night I worked at making a wife for my Monster. I wanted to get it over with. It made me sick to look at what I was doing. But still I went on with my bones and eyeballs and bits of hair. And then, one night, there it was! Another horrible Thing on the table!"

[Rosie stone · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 I understand that the goal was to make the story short and sweet but it jumped around to plot points so much I couldn’t keep up. I have a feeling kids would feel even more lost then I did.

If the book had been given another 10 pages or so the plot jumps wouldn’t have seemed so sudden.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good young-reader adaptation of Frankenstein, but it's a bit shorter and easier than other books in the series. If you're an adult looking for the essence of the novel in a 30-minut read, or a kid looking for an entertaining and simple read, then this book is for you!

[Mekides Yedire lije · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it

[Cindy DeLong · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best way to read this story. Easy to follow and straight to the point.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book GETS TO THE POINT. Legit read in under an hour.

[Nader Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.7/10

[Troy Fanton]

2 Copies

[Anna M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decided to read and, I don’t regret it at all. I cried while reading this and, it was just short story of it😆😫 It was such beautiful writing and, beautiful quotes.

[Fuwei huang · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book,most thing is like that one man,he want to do some crazy thing that god can't do.so he use the dead body to make a real people,a monster.but the thing is when the monster is sit up.he scared of him.That is the one thing i don't understand.why he afraid of the monster he make.so lets talk about the monster.The monster come out of the house.he go the the village,that was a cold day.he is try to find an ward to get in.But when he get into the village.The people is start the kick him out .They scared of the monster,so the monster say why them hit me so much,at night he find an house to live in.between that house he can listen to the people talk.so he thing about learn about the human Language,that people will not scared of him.but he is wrong.because one day when he thing he is done for the human language,than he come out,those people is still scared him.That he don't understand.so he went to the river and he see him face.he was he monster.then he thing he need to find the one who make him to talk about this.But when he find that man.The man go away.because he is scared.so more time is pass.the man is start the face him,and he say "i'm not afraid of you".then the monster make him walk without food,at the last when the people see him he is almost die.so he say the monster wont be along.Em this book is end.one thing i want to say is this book is at mo level,so i read it.but this book about the story is not very clear.so that's why i give this book 4 star.but i thing its still a great book for the one who is some kind level like me.so that's what i thing about this book!!!

[Chavez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my freshman ESOL students. I have not read the original version. Initially I was only aware of Frankenstein via movies. The book is so much more complex and now I am really interested in reading the non-adapted version.

After reading this it is so much harder to look at the Creature as only a monster. Instead I look at him as a son who was abandoned by his father. Furthermore it made me realize that it is so easy for people to judge someone strictly by how they look. As I finished the book I was left wondering who is more monstrous- Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the Creature he created and ultimately abandoned, or the people who never gave the Creature a chance to demonstrate his kindness?

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since my school will become a prek-8 in the fall (it is now 5-8), I have been expanding my reading adventures. This 94 page adaptation of Frankenstein actually made me think about reading the original and filling in all the details. As for its audience of young readers (raeading level is 3.4)will reading this version point them towards other Stepping Stones classics? Great Illustrated Classics? Or will they just enjoy it as a page-turning adventure whose adult characters represent a departure from books with characters around their own age?

[Alaina Sims · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book to my fifth grade class, and they loved it. The adaptation does a good job of capturing the emotions behind the Monster's actions. However, sentences are constantly written as fragments. Because of the poor sentence structure, I would not want my students reading it on their own and picking up these poor writing habits.

[Eros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to re-read the original after reading the Dean Koontz Frankenstein series. Always loved it but i saw it in a whole new light. It made me question who was truly the monster, the creature or the creator.

[Abdillahi]

i love it

[Christopher Roque · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book was interesting

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was really good. i really liked the book it told me so many things about the story it was interesting to read about this book.

[Tim Zuniga · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was great and cool.It was amazing to read it.

[Paolo Alejandro · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book was interesting

[Sherlyn Garcia-flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think that it was really good because i thou that i had allot of insetting facts

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of creepy and weird.

[Teresa Lorenzo-diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was good and interesting I really liked it.

[Jaquelin Zavala-castillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

i think that this book was good because it was very intresting and awsome,