Walton sailed north through the snow,
Where shivery cold winds could blow.
He found someone weak,
Who started to speak
Of trouble from long, long ago.
Story page 1
LITTLEST · Read it with me
Frankenstein
Complete draft manuscript · Artwork in progress
Read together with a grown-up. These classics include danger, loss and sadness. Missing pictures are clearly marked; wordless passages need their illustrations to tell the full story. This is a working draft, not a finished or print-ready book.
Spread 1 · Story pages 1–2
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 2
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 2 · Story pages 3–4
Young Victor watched little seeds grow.
What made them alive? He must know.
A frog gave a jump;
His heart gave a thump.
His books made a teetering row.
Story page 3
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 4
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 3 · Story pages 5–6
His creature came alive one night.
One yellow eye blinked at the light.
But Victor, afraid,
Left all he had made.
His footsteps soon vanished from sight.
Story page 5
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 6
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 4 · Story pages 7–8
The creature found fire by a tree.
How snuggly that warm place could be!
He touched it. Then, 'Ow!'
Too hot for him now.
He watched little sparks floating free.
Story page 7
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 8
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 5 · Story pages 9–10
He watched a small home through a crack,
And left its folks wood in a stack.
He listened: each word
Took wing like a bird.
He whispered it softly right back.
Story page 9
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 10
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 6 · Story pages 11–12
A blind man said, 'Come in and stay.'
He listened in his gentle way.
Then others drew near
And cried out in fear.
They drove the poor creature away.
Story page 11
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 12
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 7 · Story pages 13–14
He killed Victor's brother at play,
And took the boy's picture away.
He hid it, unseen,
To blame kind Justine.
The bright little world turned to gray.
Story page 13
They judged her. The story was wrong.
Yet Victor stayed quiet too long.
Justine died; her chair
Stood empty and bare.
The house lost its laughter and song.
Story page 14
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 8 · Story pages 15–16
The creature said, 'Please make us two.
We'll leave, and we won't trouble you.'
He longed for a friend
Who'd stay to the end.
And Victor agreed to help, too.
Story page 15
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 16
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 9 · Story pages 17–18
Then Victor grew pale at the sight.
Could two bring more hurt and more fright?
He broke what he'd made;
The creature, betrayed,
Cried, 'I'll come on your wedding night!'
Story page 17
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 18
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 10 · Story pages 19–20
Kind Henry had helped Victor grow strong,
Through fever that lasted so long.
The creature killed him;
The world grew so dim.
They blamed Victor; proof showed them wrong.
Story page 19
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 20
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 11 · Story pages 21–22
The creature killed Victor's new wife,
While Victor watched out for his life.
His father died too;
And all that he knew
Was grief, growing sharp as a knife.
Story page 21
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 22
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 12 · Story pages 23–24
He followed fresh tracks through the snow,
Where rivers were too cold to flow.
No warm, cozy bed;
The creature still fled.
And farther and farther they'd go.
Story page 23
Wordless page, told by the illustration.
Story page 24
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.
Spread 13 · Story pages 25–26
Walton chose home with his crew.
The ice broke and let the ship through.
But Victor died there,
In Walton's kind care.
The sailors were mourning him, too.
Story page 25
The creature bent low by the bed,
'I caused all this sorrow,' he said.
He'd wanted a friend,
Not this lonely end.
Then out to the darkness he fled.
Story page 26
Illustration style draft · Text is typeset separately from the unchanged source artwork.