Krull, Kathleen.
JIM HENSON : THE GUY WHO PLAYED WITH PUPPETS
New York : Random House, 2011
IL K-3, RL 4.1
ILSN  0375857214

(2 booktalks)

Have you ever watched Sesame Street?  It is hard to find anyone who hasn't.  The man who created all those great Muppets was named Jim Henson.  You may have heard of him also.  This is a book about him.  About growing up without television.  About becoming fascinated with pupppets.  About how the show came to be.  About the man who created the Muppets.  About the man who made a living playing with puppets.

Booktalk #2

Did you ever wonder who created Cookie Monster, Big Bird and Miss Piggy? Well in the 1930’s when Jim Henson was a boy there wasn’t any television, so Jim had to figure out a way to do what he loved most, entertain people and make them laugh. He began his career in the backyard performing magic shows using a hose and wearing a turban casting spells on a “snake” by playing his flute. In college he created his first Muppets, a word he made up by combining marionettes and puppets. By cutting up his mother’s furry green coat and sticking on ping pong balls cut in half for eye balls, he made Kermit the Frog his first expressive Muppet. This was just the beginning, he went on to create the puppets in Sesame Street, The Muppets Show and even assisted in the creation of Jedi Master Yoda in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and the creatures in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. Read and discover how Jim used his imagination and creativity with playful puppets to accomplish his goal, “making a difference in the world.”  (Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Awards Program Booktalks 2012-2013)