Stitch is not a monster – he’s a creation.

He and his friend Henry Oaf were brought to life by the genius Professor Hardacre, and have spent all their days in a castle deep in the woods, far from humankind. But when the Professor dies and his pompous nephew comes to take over the laboratory, they soon find out that his sights are set not on scientific discovery, but personal glory. And Henry is his next experiment.

Can Stitch and Henry escape his clutches and make their way in a world they were never built for – and may never be ready for them?

Stitch, written by author Pádraig Kenny, is a gothic middle-grade tale for children that is loosely inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The story revolves around Stitch, a monster who was created by a professor.

Stitch resides in a castle with the professor, who has been ‘asleep’ for three hundred and twenty-seven days, and Henry Oaf, the first monster ever created, who is locked up in the basement.

When the professor’s nephew arrives with his assistant Alice, they confirm that the professor is dead, and his nephew intends to take over, starting with experiments on Henry Oaf.

The book provides many thought-provoking moments. Stitch may be a monster but he is also a caring and empathetic character. He is naïve though and doesn’t understand the harsh world he has been brought into. He has led a simple life so far.

I found the story to be heart-warming and I rooted for Stitch the whole way through. His innocent perspective on the world captivated me. There are many philosophical and I suppose sociological questions on the pages including thoughts on existence and being different.

Overall, Stitch is a captivating read that is hard to put down once you have begun. It offers both depth and entertainment and leaves the reader with more tolerance and acceptance towards others and their uniqueness.

Pádraig Kenny is an Irish writer who hails from Newbridge in County Kildare. His debut novel Tin was published in 2018 and was Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month. It has been nominated for the CILIP Carnegie Medal and several other awards.

His second novel Pog was published in April 2019 and was Independent Bookseller’s Book of the Month.

His third novel The Monsters of Rookhaven was published in September 2020 by Pan Macmillan. It won the Honour Award for Fiction in the 2021 KPMG Children’s Books Ireland awards and was Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month in October 2021, and has been nominated for the Carnegie Medal. It has also been optioned by Dream Logic Studios with the intention of adapting it into an animated movie. The sequel, The Shadows of Rookhaven, was published in 2021. The Shadows of Rookhaven won the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Honour Award for Fiction in 2022.

His fifth novel “Stitch” was published by Walker Books in 2024. It was Times Children’s Book of the Month in January 2024. This will be followed by a sixth novel in 2025.