It's Not Easy Being Green

Every time I learn something new about Jim Henson I like him even better. What a wonderful, inspirational, and zany man. As a kid I loved Sesame Street and the Muppets and The Dark Crystal and The Labyrinth and as an adult I am still taken in with his creations. For not being human they have a wide array of emotions and can share that with their viewers. To this day, I tear up whenever I hear The Rainbow Connection. It's so pure and comforting and after having read this book, I think Jim Henson was pure and comforting. What a gift. Filled with wonderful quotations and illustrations this book is a love letter to Jim and to humanity. Heartfelt and exactly what I needed to read today! 

The Goblins of Labyrinth

Obviously not too intensive of a read, but it is very silly and very fun and my GOD are the illustrations beautiful! Brian Froud has always had a wonderful knack for illustrating the best goblins, fairies, and other magical creations and this book is no exception. Nearly all of the goblins shown in this book you can find in the movie. Terry Jones does a great job of writing about each of the goblins and shedding some light on their histories and quirks. For example, Agnes (a scavenging goblin - you know the one in the dump) "is capable of collecting and carrying seventy times her own weight in discarded economic theories and abandoned political objectives. The empty promises, hollow opinions and worthless political statements are all snapped up by this voracious creature." A wonderful witty treat for fans of Jim Henson, Brian Froud, and of course, Labyrinth!

Return to Labyrinth vol. 1

LOVED this! It was a little weird seeing this done as a manga but the artist did a great job in making many of the characters and goblins look the same (except for Sarah as an adult, she looks weird). Basically this story picks up when Toby is a teenager. Everything starts going wrong for him in school and one day a goblin runs in and steals his homework, enraged and not knowing what is going on he chases the creature through a small tunnel in his closet and ends up in the labyrinth where his older sister had been years before (although he doesn't know that, she never told him). He finds himself making friends with a fairy and adorable mini-ludo type creature and they work together to get to the castle, outrunning foes along the way. It's awesome and I can't wait to read the next three!