Fun! ( )

Fun to look at and see all the pictures, but overall a little bit disappointing. It doesn't really live up to it's name in more than one way. First, it doesn't include all the Muppets--none from Sesame Street, only various Muppet shows and Muppet movies. Second, it doesn't contain much information. The debut appearance is listed for each character but other than that there is no factual information. The rest of the text is sarcastic. I was hoping for real, interesting trivia and behind-the-scenes tidbits, but nothing like that here. ( )

An A-Z guide to characters from The Muppet Show and related shows, movies, and specials. Potentially useful if you have a burning need to figure out what the name of that Muppet monster you just saw is, but mostly it's just fun, and full of goofy, bad-pun-laden, classically Muppety humor. I started it thinking that, while amusing, an entire book's worth of this might quickly become tiresome. But, nope. Like the Muppets themselves, it somehow just never gets old. ( )

It’s no secret that I am a giant fan of the Muppets in any way, shape or form. I love Sesame Street; I love the Muppets both old and new. I was thrilled to see the release of this book (timed for release with Muppets Most Wanted). It’s more suitable for children than adults, as it doesn’t tell you anything about how Muppets are constructed or who the puppeteers are. Still, it’s a fun book that will make you chuckle.

The book is certainly an extensive list of various Muppets. Younger children who haven’t seen the original Muppet Show may not know some of the characters (Mildred Huxtetter, anyone?) but it’s still interesting to read about them anyway. Major Muppets like Miss Piggy (naturally I had to put her first) and Kermit have more than one page devoted to them. The book also gets my tick of approval because it contains one of my favourite under-the-radar Muppets, Splurge. Splurge, although seen in the Muppet Movie, only has a major role in Hey Cinderella! (1965). He’s a big blue monster with a thing for radishes (you can get him to pull a pumpkin shaped coach by dangling a radish in front of him). Splurge is nearly impossible to find pictures of on the internet, so I’m pleased he’s here (I often use obscure Muppets for light relief in my lectures).

This book would be suitable for children who are new fans of the Muppets (probably 8 years and up could read it to themselves, otherwise parents reading to their children may need to have a limit of a number of Muppets per night!) or us older fans who thought we knew it all. The book demonstrates that there’s a lot of Muppets with smaller roles in some of the older/less popular productions. Note that this book doesn’t contain any of the Muppets from Sesame Street.

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