Jim Henson's The Storyteller: The Novelization

Not as famous as a lot of Jim Henson’s projects, ‘The Storyteller’ was a television serial from the late eighties that consisted of episodic stories inspired by folklore of Northern European, predominantly Germanic, origin.They exhibited a certain charm derived from the way they were presented. Echoing a ‘saga telling’ style approach, each story was introduced and partially narrated through the character of the ‘storyteller’ (fabulously realised by John Hurt). Sat beside his hearth and ‘assisted’ by his animatronic dog, he addressed the viewer directly as he related these varied and entertaining stories which, like all good fairy tales, possess something for listeners of all ages.All nine onscreen tales are novelised in this collection. There is accompanying artwork, with generally a couple of black and white drawings per story. The book also includes some appendices that consist of some background to the concept and its development as well as some colour photographs from behind the scenes. The publication of this new edition of ‘The Storyteller’ is undoubtedly inspired by the prospective revival of the programme in 2020.Obviously the novelisations lack the puppeteering and intricate puppets that are associated with Jim Henson’s work. John Hurt’s delivery is inevitably also absent and the novelisations feel like they have less direct involvement from the storyteller, except for ‘A Story Short’ which features the storyteller himself in an adventure. However, the spirit of the original is still present, and these tales make entertaining little reads.

As my sister and I loved the series as children I wanted to get the series for my children bit it is so expensive I bought this book instead and I have not been disappointed it is bitter sweet and mysterious a perfect addition to the family if you do or do not have the series already it was such a happy surprise when I found this book

Beautiful book, wonderful stories. Lovely to read as well as listen to.

a beautiful nostalgic souvenir of these amazing stories and series from the Jim Henson co.

Often rather dark, with a wide vocabulary, this book fully stands up in comparison with the excellent television series. It IS for older children, mainly because the stories are rich and rather long, but stands the test of reading aloud very well.

Great item

Classis stories presented with lovely illustrations that look lovely on your book shelf.

Item arrived fairly quick! The book is in awesome condition. The only issue I have is that the image used in the advert looks nothing like the book I received "/