Storytelling Made Easy with Puppets - by Jan Vanschuyver (Paperback)

About the Book

Want to use puppets in storytelling but think you lack the confidence or talent? Then this is the book for you! Jan VanSchuyver explains how you can enliven storytelling and book sharing without fancy productions or complicated puppets. Her hands-in approach includes scripts and ideas for group activities accompanied by tried and true techniques for creating and using puppets to introduce books, lead songs, and tell stories. Problems with and solutions to working with children, whose reactions are often unpredictable, are an integral part of this resource.

Book Synopsis

Want to use puppets in storytelling but think you lack the confidence or talent? Then this is the book for you! Jan VanSchuyver explains how you can enliven storytelling and book sharing without fancy productions or complicated puppets. Her hands-in approach includes scripts and ideas for group activities accompanied by tried and true techniques for creating and using puppets to introduce books, lead songs, and tell stories. Problems with and solutions to working with children, whose reactions are often unpredictable, are an integral part of this resource.

Review Quotes

?The book follows a logical progression in dealing with the subject matter and provides a nice balance of newer stories as well as classics.?-Feliciter

?This book lives up to its title in a joyful way. The novice should be inspired to try it....The experienced puppeteer/storyteller will enjoy the attention to detail in sharing how to mix the stories, the puppets, the children, and staging to get the most out of intimate storytimes.?-The Puppetry Journal

?This rich source pair storytelling with puppetry, making it accessible to the beginner or the pro in either performing art....a resource that will inspire and enhance the work of those of us in similar professions, as well as any others who share literature with children.?-School Library Journal

"The book follows a logical progression in dealing with the subject matter and provides a nice balance of newer stories as well as classics."-Feliciter

"This rich source pair storytelling with puppetry, making it accessible to the beginner or the pro in either performing art....a resource that will inspire and enhance the work of those of us in similar professions, as well as any others who share literature with children."-School Library Journal

"This book lives up to its title in a joyful way. The novice should be inspired to try it....The experienced puppeteer/storyteller will enjoy the attention to detail in sharing how to mix the stories, the puppets, the children, and staging to get the most out of intimate storytimes."-The Puppetry Journal

About the Author

JAN M. VANSCHUYVER, M.L.S., has been a performer, teacher, and consultant on puppetry and storytelling for two decades. She is a children's librarian, with memberships in the Puppeteers of America and the National Association for the Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling (NAPPS). VanSchuyver has been an artist-in-residence in California and Alaska, and teaches puppetry and storytelling courses at universities and colleges. She is an active performer at schools, libraries, museums, conferences, community centers, festivals, and special events for children and their families.