Marionettes: How to Make and Work Them

Rating:
Summary: Nice book but a little dated...
Review: I wanted to make a marionette of my own so I ordered up this book. Like the reviewers before me stated it's a good book for the money but it has 30 year old information. Many of the materials used in this book are really dated! Like using leather and shellac! I would have enjoyed it much more if the book was revised to include all the great new materials available today!

Rating:
Summary: Helen Fling's Marionettes - Most Information for Least Money
Review: This is a Dover reprint which consolidates in one book four previously published mini-volumes on aspects of puppetry (primarily marionettes though some hand puppet specifics are given and there is overlap between the two), including 1) making puppet heads; 2) making and assembling puppet bodies (human form), including hands and feet; 3) making one- and two- handed control sticks and stringing plus costuming, manipulation basics, props, storage, and limited discussion of animal puppet construction; and 4) stage design and construction, stagecraft, backdrop designs, production suggestions, and a sample script.

All four sections are profusely and clearly illustrated with literally hundreds of line drawings, which are both technically useable and quite charmingly humorous. The text, like the illustrations, simply and clearly presents steps in construction of puppets from beginning to end.

I have been researching puppetry books in the past year and think this is one of the best practical construction manuals still in print. It provides a great deal of information at an extremely reasonable price. Because of the funny illustration style and the simple and straightforward text, it would make an excellent textbook for teaching children (and adults who do not take themselves too seriously) the fundamentals of string puppetry.

Most "how-to" books include photographs; this one does not, and in my experience illustrations can sometimes misrepresent how to accomplish certain tasks, leading to confusion and mistake. This book is, happily, not guilty of that failing. Prospective purchasers should also be aware that no historical information is included.