Franklin: It’s Not Easy Being Me! by Shelly Baker

A Hilarious Halloween Caper About Identity, Monster‑Sized Comparison, and Learning to Love Your Inner Frankenstein

Franklin Frankenstein is having a bit of a monster-sized identity crisis. He doesn’t like being green, he’s tired of trip-hazarding over his own giant feet, and he is way taller than everyone else in town. So, on Halloween night, Franklin decides he’s done being a Frankenstein. He sets out into the spooky night to test-drive a few other identities.

Unfortunately for Franklin, things don’t go exactly to plan. When he tries to glide through walls with the ghosts, he nearly tears the haunted house down. When he watches a witch do loops in the sky, it looks way too scary. From trying to balance as a scarecrow to mimicking bats, and vampires, Franklin’s night becomes a laugh-out-loud disaster. And yet, beneath all the spooky chaos, there is something wonderfully warm about his search. Franklin is really asking a very familiar childhood question: “Would it be easier to be someone else?”

Why this book works

Makes self-doubt funny: Franklin’s frustration feels real, but the story never gets too heavy. Children can laugh at his disasters while quietly recognizing the feeling behind them.

Tackles comparison without preaching: Instead of explaining why comparison is exhausting, the book lets Franklin try it himself. Spoiler: being a ghost, witch, mummy, bat, or vampire is not as easy as advertised.

Has proper Halloween energy: This is a great October pick for children who like spooky characters, costumes, and chaos, but not the kind of Halloween story that requires sleeping with every light on.

Invites children to join in: The parade of ghosts, witches, scarecrows, bats, and monsters makes the story easy to turn into movement, guessing games, or dramatic reading.

Try this at home or in class

After reading, play “Move Like Franklin.”

Ask children to move around the room like different Halloween characters:

• glide like a ghost
• flap like a bat
• stomp like Frankenstein
• freeze like a scarecrow
• wrap themselves up like a mummy — carefully, please, we are not recreating a medical incident

Then pause and ask:
Which one felt easy? Which one felt silly? Which one felt nothing like you?

It’s a playful way to talk about bodies, differences, and the simple truth that everyone moves through the world in their own way. Some glide. Some flap. Some stomp beautifully with giant Frankenstein feet.

Final thoughts

Franklin: It’s Not Easy Being Me! is funny, festive, and full of heart. It uses Halloween chaos to explore comparison and self-acceptance in a way young children can actually understand through movement, laughter, and one very relatable green monster.

A spooky-sweet pick for October storytime, classroom read-alouds, or any child who has ever wondered if being someone else might be easier.

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