The Books

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Honey Girl Books and Gifts publishes illustrated books that bring scholarly discoveries and new versions of classic novels to younger readers.

NEWS!

1. In 2024, we will issue the first edition of Seattle Stories by Seattle Kids, five tales written and illustrated by Write YOUR Story participants, local talents ages 8-12. Featuring Family Along the Way, Nightmare at Green Lake, The Trickster of Puget Sound and more!  

2. Another title is coming from a friend in Italy! Stand by for more on Angelina and the Stranger's Name, by Sabrina Ferri of Rome, Italy (formerly a beloved colleague in Romance Languages at Notre Dame). Ferri's tale will be published by HGBG in the months ahead, in an English translation and the Italian original. With its feminist angle on a strangely familiar myth, this book will be a must for all clever children everywhere...

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Illustrated by young and up-and-coming artists, these books are unique collectors' items as well as a good read. 

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Our first book, The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate, illustrated by Karen Neis, was ranked by Amazon as #1 New Release in Children's European Historical Fiction, and #1 New Release in Children's European Biography (November 2018)! 

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Book #2 is now available! A Spooky Tale of Spring, or How the Grumpy Mom Got her Cheer Back, illustrated by Kiera Highsmith. (Hint: it's a retelling of a favorite Dickens novel, with a Ghost Cat who visits its former

owner and ushers in a night of useful terrors....). With historical and contextual notes by Dickens scholar, Chris VandenBossche, and animal rights activist, Wendy A. Wolfe. 50% of proceeds from A Spooky Tale of Spring will be

donated to Homeward Bound Animal Welfare Group in Mishawaka, IN.

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 Available now at Pegasus Book Exchange in West Seattle, on Amazon, and bol.com for those of you in Europe!

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A Spooky Tale gets an "A"!

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"Laughter heals, and this lovely book kept me laughing. It's a wonderful tribute to Dickens's Christmas Carol, by extending it to animals. Our pets come out ahead here, knowing things

it would be best for we adults to learn and take to heart. And as we laugh and chortle,

we heal."

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--Murray Baumgarten, Founding Director The Dickens Project, UCSC 

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The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate: A Possibly True Story of the Monster's Origins is a ghost story,

a Gothic novel for youngsters, and a work of alternative history. It shows how Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, then age 19, could have got the inspiration to write her masterpiece Frankenstein during that fateful night on the banks of Lake Geneva. It makes a leap of imagination into the past to unearth how the girl Mary could have read a French tale, published in 1790, that features an inventor named Frankénsteïn who makes a man-sized robot. Could the secret have been left behind in the papers of her mother, the amazing Mary Wollstonecraft?

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Possibly true (and possibly not!), The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate was inspired by archival research, and includes historical and biographical notes by scholars of the French Revolution, Mary Shelley, and the thrilling Frankenstein.

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The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate: A Possibly True Story of the Monster's Origins, by Julia Douthwaite Viglione, illustrated by Karen Neis, with biographical and historical notes by Eileen Hunt Botting and Greg Kucich. 35 pages, 33 color illus, ages 8 and up, available from Amazon now in Kindle, and hardcover! 

Also available at Seattle's best independent bookstores: Pegasus Book Exchange and Third Place Books in Ravenna!

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Readers rave about The Frankenstein of the Apple Crate:

The story is fascinating, and the illustrations capture the haunting mood so well."
--Liz, Mishawaka, IN

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The kids loved the book!
--Kathleen, Seattle, WA

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French and Spanish versions!

Le Frankenstein du cageot à pommes, ou comment le monstre est né,

de source (presque) sûre, translated by Vincent Jauneau

Available now in hardcover on Amazon.fr! 

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El Frankenstein de la caja de manzanas: 

Una historia posiblemente verdadera de los orígenes del monstruo,

translated by Jeremy Llanes Dela Cruz

Available now in hardcover on Amazon!

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