Frankenkitty, a monstrous tale by Maudie Powell-Tuck and Mini Grey
About Author
Curl up with Frankenkitty this Halloween, a grim and grisly read by bestselling author and illustrator Maudie Powell-Tuck and Mini Grey.
Maudie Powell-Tuck is a #1 New York Times bestselling children's book author. Born in London, Maudie has worn hearing aids from birth, and loves nothing more than rummaging through charity shops with her two sons and watching terrible, trashy reality tv.
Mini Grey, who was born in a mini car in a car park in South Wales, worked as a theatre designer, then a primary school teacher, before beginning making her award-winning children's picture books. Mini lives in Oxford UK with her family.
Interview
October 2026
Monster or cute kitty? Exploring Frankenkitty with Maudie Powell Tuck and Mini Grey
In this grim and grisly tale of disruptive sprouts, decaying bananas and rats running wild, meet Frankenkitty, a small kitty with a possibly monstrous heart. With nods to Gothic horror and 1930s black and white movies, this is a brilliantly tongue-in-cheek 'horror' picture book for children who want a little Halloween edge wrapped up in all the reassurance that a cute kitty and gentle kindness can bring.
ReadingZone caught up with the bestselling author and illustrator, Maudie Powell-Tuck and Mini Grey, to find out more about Frankenkitty (Little Tiger).
More about Frankenkitty: "Fun and not at all frightening, Frankenkitty is perfect for sharing as the dark night's draw in!" (Reviewed by Sue, ReadingZone)
Monster or cute kitty? Exploring Frankenkitty with Maudie Powell Tuck and Mini Grey
"The challenge was to translate all that glorious grisliness into something simple, funny, accessible and
VERY silly for young kids. Frankenkitty is pure gothic spoof."
1. What happens in your new picture book, Frankenkitty?
Maudie: It begins in a dark, dark castle with walls as grey as old knickers. Inside a tower, an Inventor cries, “IT'S ALIIIVE!” What's alive? Is it a just a kitty cat or is it a monster? It's up to you, the reader, to decide!
2. This is not a cute kitty story - what inspired you to go down the horror story route for a picture book? And to draw on Frankenstein's monster for the idea?
Maudie: The idea actually came from my publishers, Little Tiger. They gave me the title 'Frankenkitty' and asked if I could come up with a story for it. I've always loved the Gothic genre, and its many parodies (because humour and horror often go hand in hand). So I went down a lovely rabbit role of research - reading all my favourite stories, watching Tim Burton and the original Frankenstein horror movies. Then the challenge was to translate all that glorious grisliness into something simple, funny, accessible and VERY silly for young kids. Frankenkitty is pure gothic spoof - with cheeky nods to 1930s horror films!
3. - Do you have a 'Frankenkitty' somewhere in your life?
Maudie: Sadly I don't - though my eldest son is currently campaigning hard for a furry little addition to our family. But I do love writing mischievous characters - and vicariously living through them, as in real life, I'm utterly terrified of doing something wrong and being told off!
4. Do we underestimate how much young children enjoy being scared? How do you see readers responding to the story?
Maudie: The first rule I was told when I started working as an editor at a publishers many years ago was that characters can't get eaten at the end of books. It's too scary for modern kids. Jon Klassen can get away with it, but he's… well… Jon Klassen. Then last year, my four year old son made a book with his nursery classmates. Guess how their story ends? A humungous evil spider gobbles everyone up!
Sadly, there's no man-eating spiders in Frankenkitty (sorry, kids!), but I think children have a good, innate sense of how much "scariness" they can handle - and it's often more than we adults think. Mind you, the joke in Frankenkitty is that, despite the histrionics of the narrator and the gothic setting, nothing actually that scary happens. Frankenkitty is more of a trickster character than a figure of horror, and the worst he does is pepper the castle with stinky sprouts and slimy socks!
5. Why did you decide to have a 'Dear reader' narrator for this story - and did you enjoy Mini Grey's interpretation of your narrator and story?
Maudie: An unreliable narrator is a major gothic trope so there had to be one in Frankenkitty. The narrator is dramatic, silly, overblown and loves delicious 'g' adjectives like: Grim! Grisly! Ghastly! My favourite picture books are those which invite the reader to be part of the story - part of the performance - and I very much hope that's what our book does too.
I've always been a BIG Mini Grey fan - and I was blown away by her illustrations for the book. Her idea to have dismembered body parts (I promise it's not as gruesome as it sounds!) as the narrator is GENIUS. I particularly adore all her references to classic Horror movies. I could pore over her endpapers all day - the layers of detail in her art are unmatched!
6. Mini, what drew you to Maudie's text and why did you decide to take on this project? Did you enjoy the tongue-in-cheek 'horror' element?
Mini: As a child, I was a massive fan of all things monster. I loved cheesy horror films like Carry On Screaming and Young Frankenstein, and also the Munsters and the Addams Family. And funnily enough, no picture books I'd done before Frankenkitty had been set in a horror-film world. When I was offered Maudie's text I realised that a horror-film picture book was what I'd always been unconsciously longing to do.
7. How did you decide to approach the illustrations and to marry the humour and the horror for a young audience?
Mini: I wanted to make a world where all the classic monsters live together in domestic harmony, but they're all boggled by the arrival of Frankenkitty. Maudie's text had a sort of Greek Chorus feel with overdramatic exclamations, so I wondered if I needed a Chorus of Bodyparts from the Inventor's Laboratory (a chance to reference Thing from the Addams Family and the Abnormal Brain from Young Frankenstein.)
8. What kinds of extra details did you need to think about and to develop through the story?
Mini: Maudie wanted Olive to have hearing aids, because she has them - and I really like that's there but in a visual, not part-of-the-story way. I had a lot of fun with the endpapers. One of my favourite spreads to do was the one where everything's kicking off in the castle - it was really fun to do a cross-section through the castle (fuelled by my inner doll's house obsession.)
9. Do you each have a favourite moment / spread in the picture book, and why did you choose that moment?
Mini: Well I guess I love the moment when Olive has rescued Frankenkitty from the snow and they're in a huge armchair in front of the fire - that feeling of warmth and safety.
Maudie: I love Olive, the inventor's daughter, battling the treacherous twigs and over-familiar squirrels to save Frankenkitty. I've worn hearing aids from birth, and Olive does too, so as a little girl I would have hero worshipped her - she's brave, not afraid to use her voice and best of all, SHE HAS A PET MONSTER CAT!
10. What do you look forward to most in the upcoming Halloween celebrations? How involved do you get?
Maudie: I love the creativity - especially when people go ridiculously over-the-top with their decorations and costumes. Give me all the drama! We'll be celebrating with my brother and his family. My eldest plans to be ferocious dragon, my youngest wants to be “half normal/half zombie”, and my 3 year old nephew wants to dress up as a poo.
Mini: Last year my Light Sabre broke, and I've found it's essential to open the door to trick-or-treaters with a light sabre in hand. Hopefully I can find a new one by the end of October. On the 31st October at 11am I'm going to be at my brilliant local bookshop Caper on Magdalen Road in Oxford and we're going to do all things Frankenkitty and make Things in Jars.
Creative Challenge:
Maudie: Can you create your own “Franken” character? It could be a Frankenpig, Frankenfish or even FrankenTOAST! You could draw them, write a story about them, or even make a model of your character!
Mini: Maybe have a look at the Frankenkitty endpapers and brew up your own idea for Things in Jars. The Grant Museum in London has lots of Things in Jars, including a jar of moles (the burrowing kind). What could you put in a jar: Sprouts? Nostrils? Ears? Toadstools? Beetles? Lethal sweets? Frogs? Ghosts? Pixies? Thumbs? Snails? Pickled Onions? Screams? Dreams? Nightmares? A tornado? Don't forget to put a label on your jar.
School visits by Maudie Powell-Tuck and Mini Grey:
Maudie: Oooh, I love a school visit. I offer interactive, fun sessions to inspire a love of writing, reading and stories. Expect silly props, drawing, craft and heaps of audience participation. If you'd like to get in touch, send me a message via my Instagram page: @maudiepowelltuck. Thank you!
Mini: I usually do school visits but I've had to cancel these through to autumn 2027 because I've got to make loads of pictures for other books.
Frankenkitty
