There are loads of publishing powerhouses who pride themselves to be licensees to LEGO, churning out material from comics, reference books in and out of LEGO subjects, and even storybooks. The most prominent publishers to do this much for LEGO are Dorling-Kindersley (DK) in the UK and Scholastic for Stateside.
Speaking of Scholastic, they’re celebrating their 15th anniversary of being an official LEGO licensee for books and print media. To that end they’re releasing a picture storybook that also commemorates the double milestone of LEGO60 and Minifigure40, all told in a delightful children’s story that’s also great for all ages.
This is “I’m Fun, Too!” described as a Classic LEGO Picture Book. It’s written and illustrated by Barnacle Is Bored and Plankton Is Pushy author Jonathan Fenske, as his first LEGO-related work. That doesn’t quite mean he hasn’t spent lots of time with the toys and minifigures; his LEGO-playing days actually figure into the narrative.
In his youth, as Fenske relates, he has had the opportunity of playing with LEGO minifigures in their original configuration: no facial expressions, no moving parts, and no details beyond color. “I’m Fun, Too!” follows such a minifigure, who encounters the minifigs of today, with their varied hair, printed body details and various props aplenty.
This wonderful LEGO picture storybook from Scholastic comes out on August 28, and will be available in hardcover print and Kindle form. It’ll be fun to read how oldie minifigure resolves his feeling about his future counterparts as expressed in his inner thoughts like so:
“Let’s face it. If we were all ice cream, those guys would be the super-duper chunky happy birthday blast. And I would be the vanilla.”