Puppets for cherubs

When it comes to literature for kids, parents usually find themselves at the mercy of fairy tales, colouring books and, most recently, OTT platforms. So, if you are looking to enhance the creativity of your kids or get involved in an activity with them over the weekend, Tara Books has a new addition to your library called Puppets Unlimited: With Everyday Materials by a string of creators: Gita Wolf, Anushka Ravishankar, Ragini Siruguri, Dhwani Shah and Rohini Srinivasan.

Targeted for kids over 10 years of age, this book offers a map on creating puppets from just about anything you can find at home. The book is essentially a playscript of instructions and ideas that have been shared by traditional Indian puppeteers. It starts by explaining the concept of puppets and goes into various types with a lot of examples. In the latter part of the book, there is a beautiful reference to the art and its old and new forms. Best of all, it is an end-to-end guide to the art form with illustrations, even explaining to the kids about setting up their show with lights and backdrops.

The first edition of Puppets Unlimited (1998) came together because of a workshop on puppet-making at various schools for differently-abled children. Unlike the current version, which is a blast of colours, the earlier edition was designed to be printed in black ink on craft paper. As for the pictures of the puppets, they were separately printed and pasted by hand on all 2,000-plus copies. For the latest edition though, the team took its creativity a few notches higher by making all the puppets from scratch for fresh images for the book. And, that effort and attention to detail can be seen on every page.

What: Puppets Unlimited: With Everyday Materials
Cost: Rs 800
Order on: Amazon/Tarabooks.com

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