Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Puppet Play: Book Review & Giveaway


Today I'm participating in the virtual book tour for Puppet Play by Diana Schoenbrun. This is Diana's second book. She also authored Beasties, a book on how to make stuffed animal monsters. Besides writing books, Diana also teaches puppet making and does freelance illustrating. To find out more about Diana you can visit her website.

Puppet Play features 20 puppet projects to make out of recycled items such as mittens, towels, and socks. You'll also find a tutorial on how to make a theater for your puppets out of a cardboard box. For each project you'll find pictures, step by step instructions and patterns to make the puppets. The construction of the puppets is mainly created by hand sewing. The projects are good for all sewing levels. In fact, many of the projects could easily be made by a child with a little adult guidance.

What I like about the projects is that most of the supplies come from cast off items and are easily accessible. Diana also incorporates lots of common craft supplies such as buttons, washers, and googly eyes. She even has a project for those socks with holes, a wizard puppet!

I also like that the projects are quick and easy to make. I started making the "Ice Cream Man" from the book and in just one hour I was half way finished. Depending on your skill level you could probably make a couple puppets in one day.

Below are a few pictures of puppets from the book.

Two Blue Mice - They even have shoelace tales!

The Five Little Pigs

Feilong The Dragon

On to the giveaway. . .One lucky winner will receive the book Puppet Play. To enter, please share what kind of puppet you would like to make (doesn't have to be one from the book) . One entry per household. Please leave an email address so I can contact you if you win. The last day to enter the contest is Tuesday, May 17 2011. I'll announce the winner Wednesday, May 18 2011 on this post. If I do not hear back from the winner after two weeks, I will choose a new winner. Open to everyone.

Puppet Play Book Tour Schedule

May 3rd Oh My! Handmade
May 4th Craft Sanity
May 5th Sew Mama Sew
May 6th Little Birdie Secrets
May 7th This Mama Makes Stuff
May 8th Roots and Wings
May 9th Whip UP
May 10th Fiskateers
May 11th Zakkalife < You're Here
May 12th Prudent Baby
May 13th Make + Do
May 14th Craft Test Dummies
May 15th Cute Everything
May 16th Schmancy
May 17th Progressive Pioneer
May 18th Pink and Green Mama
May 19th Arrow Cabinets
May 20th The Happy Honeybee
May 21st Craft Gossip

Contest Closed

Congratulations to ***Sharon*** who is the winner of the giveaway!

In case you were wondering, during the the Blogger problem last week I lost a lot of comments on this post. However, I still had everyone's comments in my email files so no ones entry was lost. As always, thank you to everyone who entered :)

at

27 comments:

  1. spriteMay 11, 2011 at 9:40 AM

    I would love to make a real marionette someday, like Pinocchio. From the book, it would be fun to make the kangaroo+baby glove idea! But the stick-end dragon puppet also looks neat.... Puppets in general, it's amazing the expressions you can give to them w/ a little flick of the finger! I'm glad my fingers are a little double-jointed for hand-puppets.

    ReplyDelete
  2. elifMay 11, 2011 at 10:09 AM

    I would like to make the mice puppet!!
    This is Elif from Turkiye..
    elif.azizoglu@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMay 11, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    Oh, how cute! I love that monkey on the front cover, but me and my kids would love to make ANY of these puppets! :) liz(dot)harrington(at)gmail(dot)com.

    ReplyDelete
  4. NicoleMay 11, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    I would like to make a handpuppet of a little girl with plaits.
    giveaway(at)4nicole(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  5. CindyMay 11, 2011 at 1:54 PM

    I work in youth services at our local library and we often use puppets in our story times. The puppet I would like to make would be Crictor (a snake). He would have to be quite long and flexible so that I could show the kids how he could make letters and numbers when he went to school. I very long and strechy sock would work, but I am wondering what to stuff it with.

    ReplyDelete
  6. CarolynMay 11, 2011 at 3:11 PM

    I have a 22 month old grandson that I would like to make a simple hand puppet or three.

    ReplyDelete
  7. KJ@letsgoflyakiteMay 11, 2011 at 5:02 PM

    I am working on a Wizard of Oz puppet doorway puppet theatre, so I really want to make a lion or a tin man!

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownMay 11, 2011 at 6:48 PM

    I would love to do princess puppets! My daughters are very into princess!
    alklong at hotmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  9. shobelleMay 11, 2011 at 9:08 PM

    I am partial to the dragon ... it reminds me of Mushu from "Mulan".

    I think a nice mouse family puppet would be neat, too! :)

    Thanks for the opportunity to win!

    Shoni

    shonijunk (at) yahoo (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  10. RiaMay 12, 2011 at 3:59 AM

    If I could, I'd love to be able to make a gryphon puppet, since I have a close friend who goes by the name of Griffin. I think it'd be awesome to present them with a puppet of their namesake!

    ReplyDelete
  11. JoyMay 12, 2011 at 7:18 AM

    Oh! I would love to make one of those 5 finger glove puppet with a story!

    Thanks for the giveaway!

    joy@creativemamma.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousMay 12, 2011 at 10:12 AM

    I would totally make that elephant puppet...with a working trunk!
    teezo_01 -at- yahoo -dot- com

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMay 13, 2011 at 10:57 AM

    I'd make a penguin puppet, b/c my 3-year-old loves penguins!

    scherne72@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. M.C.May 13, 2011 at 11:00 AM

    I would like to make a cuttlefish puppet. They are so cute and would make a great hand puppet in my opinion.

    mcshumaker@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. KJ@letsgoflyakiteMay 13, 2011 at 3:35 PM

    I am working on a puppet theatre (Wizard of Oz inspired) for my daughter's 6th birthday. I would like to make a lion and a tinman puppet!

    PS I am also certain I left a comment on this post, but I think with the blogger troubles it disappeared. If this is a duplicate, please delete!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Christy May 14, 2011 at 3:28 AM

    Those are totally cute and unique puppet creations. I would love to make some fairy puppets!

    Thanks for the giveaway chance!

    ReplyDelete
  17. KarlaMay 14, 2011 at 4:59 AM

    I LOVE Puppets....hand puppets are my favorite, and I would love to have/make a little boy puppet. They can get into such mischief! And maybe a dog puppet for him.....

    ReplyDelete
  18. SaskiaMay 14, 2011 at 1:38 PM

    This is such a cute book! I love sock monkeys, that's for sure. For a handpuppet, i would love to make the dragon, it looks so neat!

    saskiad at gmail dot com is my mailadres :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. ***Sharon***May 14, 2011 at 4:53 PM

    I would love to make a puffer fish!

    SHARKritzler (at) aol (dot) com

    Thanks for the chance!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Kitten's Lost Her MittensMay 15, 2011 at 9:51 AM

    I would LOVE to win this book! I adore the 'two blue mice' puppet. Creative use of the thumb!
    Thanks for the chance to win!

    ReplyDelete
  21. JillianMay 15, 2011 at 5:56 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  22. JillianMay 15, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    Yay, puppets! This looks like a lot of fun and that monkey on the cover is adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  23. zuperdzighMay 16, 2011 at 1:13 AM

    I'm a crocheted toy designer, until now I haven't make any puppet, but someday i would like to make a crocheted/ knitted puppet so it could tell more stories :)... maybe in dog shape, since I love dogs.

    zuperdzigh [at] yahoo [dot] com

    ReplyDelete
  24. NicMay 17, 2011 at 10:23 AM

    I love the elephant on the cover, so I think I'd like to try to make that one. Thanks for the great contest!

    ctoan72(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Forget Shyness ReviewsMay 17, 2011 at 4:43 PM

    i'd like to make a moose puppet :)

    littleheathen9109 @ Yah00 d0t c0m

    ReplyDelete
  26. ***Sharon***May 19, 2011 at 9:49 AM

    Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Thrilled to have won!!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Babygarten TTSeptember 19, 2011 at 5:44 AM

    Hi Just wondering if you ever made the Crictor puppet? I want to do this story with my group and have figured out how it can be done on a storyboard (using yarn & thumbtacks or pipe cleaners &felt) but wanted to try a puppet maybe as it would be more effective especially with a younger age group (2 and under)

    ReplyDelete