Neil Gaiman & Dave McKean, Mirrormask - The Illustrated Film Script of the Motion Picture from the Jim Henson Company

Mirrormask -- The Illustrated Film Script of the Motion Picture from the Jim Henson Company

Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean

Morrow,

ISBN: 0060798750

Fifteen years old Helena works very hard in her family's circus. She hates her life, hoping to one day escape and become part of the real world. However, one day her wish comes true, just not her real world. She has ended up in a fantasy realm filled with mythological creatures in which two kingdoms exist in natural balance side by side. One eternally in light, the other forever in darkness. However, the harmony is gone as Helena and her double from this world beyond her imagination have switched places. To return home, Helena must restore the balance.

Above is an overly simplification of the delightful fairy tale plot that is some ways will remind the audience of the Wizard of Oz. The book is not a novel, but instead the film script with story boards of Mirrormask Motion Picture. This different tome is fun to follow whether Helena is performing as a sock, working at the circus as a juggler or selling tickets, or meeting strange beings in the fantasy realm as she seeks "ruby slippers' to get back home. Interesting but not for everyone, this is an intriguing picture book that tells the fun tale, but keep in mind it is a script not a graphic novel. Appendices add understanding as the MIRRORMASK -- THE ILLUSTRATED FILM SCRIPT OF THE MOTION PICTURE FROM THE JIM HENSON COMPANY is fun family entertainment with a movie to follow in the Fall.

Harriet Klausner