Back in November, we announced that a Little Golden Book Biography about Jim Henson was being published soon, as well as a look at the cover and a few preview pages. And here we are now, with those books on shelves and in our eager little hands!
This book is written and illustrated by Luke Flowers, a talented Muppet fan artist and friend of ToughPigs, whose work we’ve featured in the past. We’ve also reviewed books he’s illustrated, such as The Muppet Christmas Carol Storybook and Labyrinth ABC Storybook. In those reviews, we’ve mentioned how difficult it is to condense a full story down to a short children’s book, but how well the authors have done so, with the help of Luke’s whimsical illustrations.
Well, this must have certainly been a real challenge for Luke, as in addition to being both written and illustrated by him, it also has the huge task of condensing Jim Henson’s entire life and career into two dozen pages.
Quite a challenge, but one I think he pulls off quite well! The story is focused primarily on the main beats of Jim’s career, from Sam and Friends through The Storyteller. The fun thing as well is there’s not just mentions of the movies and TV series that Jim worked on, but the processes and other creative people behind them. (Boy, it genuinely warms my heart to know there’s kids out there that are going to grow up knowing who Pierre the Rat and Frank Oz are.) But there’s also an intro to Jim’s creative life in childhood, his marriage to Jane, and the Henson kids even get a whole page showing how they’ve contributed to the Henson legacy.
As with anything Luke Flowers has a hand in, the illustrations are the highlight. They’re colorful and happy and have a nostalgic painterly touch to them. If you’re familiar with Luke’s work, you may notice these look a bit different than his usual style. These illustrations, particularly of the humans, are a little more realistic, a little more grounded. A few days ago, in an Instagram post, Luke described the process of working on this book, including challenging himself to adapt his style for what the creative team on the publishing side was looking for.
Since the book came out, I’ve been chatting with other Muppet fans about it, and the main things that everyone keeps mentioning are all the little details. There are so, so many details and references to Muppet history and characters all over these illustrations, and it’s such a joy to pore over them. Here’s just one example to give you a taste: in the first page showing Jim’s childhood living room, the paintings on the wall in the background include a painting resembling The Muppet Musicians of Bremen and another painting of the church from The Muppet Movie with Fozzie’s Studebaker parked out front. Some of the references are some deep cuts, and so it’s the kind of book that truly could only have been made by a Muppet fan. When it was announced Luke would be the one behind this, we knew it would be in good hands; it is always wonderful to know that a person’s story is being told by someone who really loves and is inspired by them.
This book is a lovely tribute to Jim, someone everyone reading this has been inspired by in some way, and is a worthy contribution to introducing Jim’s work to generations to come.
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by Meagan Barbeau
Disclosure: For transparency, ToughPigs’ Editor-in-Chief Joe Hennes is employed by this book’s publisher, Penguin Random House. The reviewer’s opinions are their own with no intended influence from the publisher, and readers should be aware of this professional affiliation.
