Labyrinths: Can you escape from the 26 letters of the alphabet? - Hardcover

Mignon, Philippe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1552975592 ISBN 13: 9781552975596

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2002

Synopsis

Labyrinths features 26 beautifully intricate watercolor labyrinths that are charming illustrations as much as they are challenging puzzles. Each is accompanied with snippets of prose or poetry that recall the Greek myths -- kings and gods, faithful friends, secrets of the heavens, displeased monsters and lurking spirits -- or are excerpts of famous writing, such as that of Robert Louis Stevenson.

A labyrinth's single path in and out is designed so that by walking its patterns you achieve a level of meditative calm and even spiritual enlightenment. Labyrinths are deeply imbedded in the history, art, architecture and religion of European cultures and are also seen in Hopi, Pima, Navajo and other Native American societies.

Today, children and adults alike enjoy the fun of finding their way out of labyrinths with a bit less cosmic meaning. Whether featuring a dragon or elephant, a Chinese pavilion or medieval city, the 26 labyrinths in Labyrinths are fun to do, pretty to contemplate and complex enough that with every attempt at escape you'll discover something new.

(Oh, and the solutions are included in the back of the book.)

About this title

About the Author

Philippe Mignon has a degree in architecture from the School of Fine Arts in Paris. In 1985 he decided to dedicate his time to illustration and has since created animated characters for television shows and illustrated many books, including French editions of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book and Jack London's White Fang and The Call of the Wild.

Reviews

Grade 3-7-A multifaceted marvel of watercolor art, poetry, and puzzles. In this collection of mazes, intricate, meticulous designs of each letter accompany carefully chosen words with picturesque, ancient, modern, and cosmopolitan associations. For example, B is for basilisk in search of his prey, G is for a gondola in a curvaceous canal route in Venice, N is for narwhale trapped in the icy Polar Sea. Some of the short poems are based on texts by Robert Louis Stevenson, Herman Melville, Th‚ophile Gautier, and Antoine de Saint-Exupery; others are Mignon's original creations. Solutions to the mazes can be found at the end of the book. The only drawback for school and public library collections is that some children may feel compelled to draw in the book. Move over "I Spy," get lost "Waldo," and make room for the intriguing Labyrinths.
Be Astengo, Alachua County Library, Gainesville, FL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 2-5. This handsome picture book for older readers reflects the current trend of alphabet books that have moved beyond instruction into a subgenre of art: artists use the shapes of the letters as a jumping-off point for creative explorations. In this title, the right side of each spread portrays a letter of the alphabet as an intricate puzzle maze, each one a symbol of myth or nature. The left side features a short, open-ended poem based on the theme. The mazes, done in watercolor, are complex, varied, and beautiful, and they change in style to reflect each subject. For example, K for kayak shows ice flows against a blue background, while U for Ulysses reflects the colors and style of an ancient Greek vase. Mazes appeal to many children, and these actually can be solved (the solutions are found in the back). But older children (and even some adults) will probably most admire the book's art and overall design. Teachers may be interested in the poems as starting points for creative writing exercises. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1552975592
• ISBN 13: 9781552975596
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 60