FIVE BRAND NEW BOOKS BASED ON THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE

To coincide with the release of the new Lego Batman Movie, out in cinemas on the 10th of February, 2017, DK.com will be publishing five brand new titles based on the franchise. This includes: An Essential Guide to the movie, an Ultimate Sticker Collection, plus two LEGO Batman Movie Readers (Level 1 and Level 2). DK will also be publishing a lavish book called, 'The Making of The LEGO Batman Movie', which will launch concurrently with the theatrical release.





Now for those of you who don't know what the Lego Batman Movie is all about (for shame), please let me just say that it's a co-production between The Lego Group (the popular Danish Toy manufactures), DC Comics (American Comic Book Publishing House), and of course, Warner Brothers (I think they make films). Story-wise, this is basically a coming of age tale where Batman, secretly known as Bruce Wayne, comes to grips with being a parent to his new ward, Dick Grayson, while not getting them both killed in the process. The five complementary books, on the other hand, are a completely different story altogether. Watch the trailer below and then check them out.

The LEGO Batman Movie: The Essential Guide is a 64 page hardback book written by Julia March and tells us what went on behind the scenes. Essentially it's split up into a number of chapters, with each chapter telling us about the characters, the sets, as well as the locations. This full color compendium is also complemented with a plethora of wonderful images, plus a modicum of detail as to what went on into the making of this comedy showcase.

Saying that, though, if you'd like a much more in-depth look, then you might be interested in the 200 page hardback book, The LEGO® BATMAN MOVIE: The Making of the Movie. Just like the Essential Guide, it also tells us about what went on behind the scenes. But in addition to this, you'll get beautifully illustrated pictorials relating to each stage of the development, ranging from coming up with the initial story idea, to story-boarding, to recording the dialogue, and of course, all of those magnificent special effects. This is then complemented with lavish spreads of the concept art and sketches of the final outcome, all of which coincide with corresponding trivia based around the actual film. Such as: Why was Will Arnett cast as the main man himself, Batman? Did Zach Galifianakis' beard get in the way of him playing The Joker? How come Michael Cera was perfect in the role of the orphaned Dick Grayson? And as for Rosario Dawson, who played Barbara Gordon; and Ralph Fiennes, who played Alfred, well, let's just say this book has some trivia on them, too.

Now the final three books in DK's collection are geared more towards the younger reader. The Ultimate Sticker Collection, for instance, is a 96 page paperback, jam packed with more than one thousand colorful and reusable stickers, including Batman, Robin, The Joker, plus many more Batman related characters and villains and props and backdrops. With awesome vehicles such as the LEGO batmobile, anyone can explore the exciting world of Gotham City by adding stickers to the colorful scenes to create their own adventure.

To complement the Sticker Collection there are two books which target kids in pre-school. Aimed at children aged 4 and over, The LEGO Batman Movie: Team Batman (DK Reader Level 1), features limited vocabulary and repetition which will allow younger fan's to build their literary skills by the page. Exciting images and photo galleries also allow them to follow Batman and Robin as they save Gotham City from the hands of The Joker. The second book is The LEGO Batman Movie: Rise of the Rogues (DK Reader Level 2), and that is aimed at children five and over, namely those children who are beginning to read independently yet need a little help. Rise of the Rogues follows the adventures of LEGO Batman and Robin as they stop The Joker from spreading havoc across Gotham.

Both of these books are 24 page hardback stories and are a very nice read. Want to know what else DK have in store? Then please check them out on their twitter and facebook pages, or via the links provided.