Making Puppets Come Alive
Engler and Fijan
1973
Submitter: The pictures are not nearly as scary as the cover led me to believe, but this book is in definite need of an upgrade. My personal favorite is the listing of puppetry organizations – there are only two! I did a quick Google search and was able to locate more than a dozen just on one website! If puppetry is popular with your patrons, get them a better book.
Holly: The title is a little creepy, too. Let’s not make puppets come alive. Ever.
I’m sure hatchet puppets would go over well at schools these days….
I don’t know why you’re all creeped out over puppets. I’ve loved them since I was a kid. The boy puppet on the cover reminds me of Casey from Mr. Dressup. 🙂
Using hatchets for puppets, though…nope. Just nope.
Casey-You nailed it! And his dog Finegan, Great show…Canada’s answer to Mr. Rogers!
I agree that puppets should never be made to come alive, especially ones that look like hatchets!
Speaking as a parent of children who are easily freaked out, puppets and clowns must go. Except Rodeo Clowns who have a purpose beyond entertainment and who’s job description insures they have a short life anyway.
Hmmm, wearing nothing but a baggie…cast as the Man in the Park?
It’s easy to make puppets come alive. Just order enchanted wood from the Blue Fairy. She probably has a website.
I own that book and used it when I started learning puppets, many, many years ago. It was great for its time, but definitely needs replacing on the library shelves.
“The pictures are not nearly as scary as the cover led me to believe”: I respectfully disagree. The baggie and finger puppets are pretty bad but the hatchets take it to a whole different level. And what are the splotches next to the hatchets? The blood of a too-curious child?
I think they are little cotton balls meant to be “hair”.
Y’all have some strange issues with puppets. I think the ones on the cover are cute.
True confession: we do. Search posts for puppets, dolls and clowns…
OK, the baggie puppet is being used so you can see the different ways to position your hands and fingers inside a glove puppet. The head only puppet is being used to show proper “posture.” The second picture is showing that the puppeteer is tired, therefore the puppet is leaning to far forward. This is actually a really good book on how to use/manipulate hand puppets. I’ve taken workshops that were based off this book and also used this in leading my own Puppet Camps in my library. It was really good exercises in it for doing different actions with puppets.