Festival-goers take photo inside of Spectra, a seven-story spiral walkway up to a viewing deck, at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, on April 17, 2022. (Photo by Valerie Macon/AFP Photo)

Justin Rowe creates these magical sculptures from hand cut books and found images with the help of just a touch of gum arabic and 24 carat gold or palladium leaf. Some are very much in the realms of fairy stories like the one above, but my favourites are the stories below where Justin’s skill brings the book’s own illustrations to life.

The Pied Piper of Hamelin, actually city tourism employee Michael Boyer, leads local children dressed as rats through a quiet street on November 19, 2012 in Hameln, Germany. The Pied Piper (in German: Der Rattenfaenger), is one of the many stories featured in the collection of fairy tales collected by the Grimm brothers, and the 200th anniversary of the first publication of the stories will take place this coming December 20th. Boyer, a U.S. citizen who has lived in Hameln for 15 years, and city children regularly perform a reenactment of the Pied Piper tale throughout the summer months. The Grimm brothers collected their stories from oral traditions in the region between Frankfurt and Bremen in the early 19th century, and the works include such global classics as Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel. (Photo by Sean Gallup)

Five-year-old Julia cuddles a free teddy bear at a toy adoption station in a branch of Dobbies in Wallington, UK on December 4, 2023. Research shows almost half of parents (46%) in Britain plan to spend less on their children’s Christmas presents this year, and 47% believe their child would not mind receiving a preloved toy as a gift. (Photo by Michael Leckie/PA Wire Press Association)

A cake decorated as a scene from the children's story “Little Red Riding Hood” is displayed at the Cake and Bake show in London, Britain October 3, 2015. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)

Construction work on the tower began in November 2008. Upon its completion this year the building will stand approximately 632 meters (2,073 ft.) high and will have 121 stories. It is expected to open to the public in 2015. (Photo by Rex Features)

A trained monkey rides a toy cycle during a Topeng Monyet (Monkey Mask) show at a densely populated area in Depok on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 18, 2024. (Photo by Ajeng Dinar Ulfiana/Reuters)

A woman rests on a pile of plush toys at IKEA store in the shopping district of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong on November 3, 2024. (Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP Photo)