It was one of my six favorite books that year (wink wink, many of you know or can guess what that means). Alas I was but one of 15.
Happily there is a sequel...I wish there were even more. Like the first this is a collection of poems in different styles (by Adam Rex) accompanied by illustrations in different styles (also by Adam Rex). Adam Rex is amazing!
This book begins on the endpapers with the monsters mistaking the reader for Frank. Then the first...um poem? "The Mother-in-law of Frankenstein Makes Wedding Plans" A sequential art (comics-style) tale of Frank meeting his future in-laws. Hysterical!
"And these grandmas
won't leave me alone.
They surround me and talk
about muffins and bread.
Or they hound me with
piecrusts and poke at my head.
'It's a good one,' they whisper.
I wish I was dead."
Hilarious! {later he laments copycats going around headless....and still later his head spoils}
Oh, go read the whole book! Really. It's not to be missed. There are zombie girl scouts and ads for witch reducing products (pails of water: watch the pounds melt away...wizard of Oz, get it?) and the Sphinx a)nd the Gorgon (she always wondered why the teacher never called on her in class until she got glasses...and realized she'd turned everyone to stone. That poem appears mostly in fuzzy letters on a chalkboard--all of the entries are multi-layered like that.
There's even Kaiju ("Strange Creatures") Haiku, one for each season:
A Winter Wager
Will Godzilla's tongue freeze to
Mechagodzilla?
I know you're laughing...
We do return to the wedding...a particualr favorite is "The Flower Girl of Frankenstein Makes a Scene" not gonna describe it. Couldn't do it justice. Then the Bride wrote her own vows and the Best Man has an unfortunate encounter with garlic bread (Dracula) at the reception...
Back to this book, if Banjo weren't too scared to read it, he would give it five treats...He says he isn't interested because there's no cat in it...but I know better!