How can you condense a 101-minute Jim Henson classic film, filled with colorful characters and memorable songs and oh yeah David Bowie into just 26 pages?
Easy. You enlist the talented Luke Flowers.
“Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: The ABC Storybook” is the latest Henson Company item to hit stores, and it likely won’t surprise you to hear that it’s fantastic. Written and illustrated by Luke Flowers, who previously illustrated the wonderful Muppet Christmas Carol storybook, the book hits every one of its goals perfectly. It retells the story of Labyrinth in a concise way, the art is stunning and original, and it’s even educational!
The Labyrinth storybook features one letter of the alphabet per page, with just a single image and a short sentence or two to move the story along. Somehow, the letters line up well (how convenient that Ludo shows up just as the letter L comes along!), and all the important and fan-favorite moments get their chance to shine through Flowers’ art.
In true Flowers form, the book does contain a few fun Easter eggs, not to be spoiled in this space. Have fun hunting for those!
As Jim Henson famously said, “Simple is good.” So it’s satisfying to see how Labyrinth translates so well to this overly simplified format. From Sarah’s aspirations of being an Actress through baby Toby catching some Z‘s, with assorted Goblins and door Knockers and other memorable moments in between, this book is a quick and fun way to revisit our love of the film.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Luke Flowers absolutely kills it in the art. His unique style highlights the fun and color seen in the movie, with detailed flourishes that only a real fan could recreate. You can practically see the joy in every pen stroke, and each page is worthy of being cropped out of the book and framed on your wall (but please don’t cut up your book… unless you bought two copies).
It’s a short book, so we’ll keep this review short as well. “Labyrinth: The ABC Storybook” is a worthy addition to your bookshelf, whether you get it for your love of Labyrinth or for a quick refresher on the alphabet. Finally, we have a storybook worth getting lost in.
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by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
