Adam Rex worked as an artist for Wizards of the Coast. Wizards of the Coast, is a gaming company famous for the artwork on Magic the Gathering trading cards. Now he is illustrating children books. Though the poetry is orientated towards children, the illustrations in "Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich" are amazing.
Poems about famous monsters: Frankenstein, Dracula, Zombies and Witches are the most playful aspect of the book. Each poem has a comical title: "Count Dracula Doesn't Know He's Been Walking Around all Night with Spinach in His Teeth." This nuance adds another layer of modernization to the traditional nursery rhyme.
The rhythm and rhymes follow a classical format; however, the content is also humorous. The poem about the Invisible Man involves a haircut. It is amusing to imagine a person trying to cut hair they cannot see. Maybe the Invisible Man should dye his hair first.
While the poems are amusing, the real value of the book is the artwork. Each page contains detail, perspective, gradient, graceful lines and balance. The artwork frequently outshines the poetry. Each painting is hypnotic. Line direction and subject focus contain eye movement to the page. This is an identifiable skill. Often when looking at amateur and sometimes professional artwork, the frame outshines the painting or there is a tendency to look at the wall, because eye direction is scattered. These images capture attention without a frame.
The book is made for children and adults. A child will enjoy the play on words and humorous stories. An adult will enjoy the fine details in the artistry. Parents, children, Goths, artists and gaming enthusiast will all enjoy this book. Copyrighted in 2006 and a Best Seller every detail is refined and worth seeing at least once.
Poetry Breakdown
The Phantom of the Opera by Adam Rex
