I read so that I know I am not alone………….The first time I heard that saying I was immediately struck …… my own love of books. My attraction to books and the world of make believe was honed when I was a young child. I was an easy mark for a father whose passion was reading and made regular treks to the library with my sister and I in tow. Out of that sprang a vivid imagination and hours of creative play with dolls and stuffed animals. But it was the puppets on television, in particular, a lamb with a squeaky voice, that transitioned me from the confines of my living room into a world of possibilities.
Similar to the cartoon characters like that infamous moose and squirrel, I saw them as more than puppets. They were real entities who maintained their own personalities, held independent and distinct thoughts and spoke freely.
Years later I would find myself as a creator of characters when I took on the role of parent educator in an Even Start program in Michigan. Our function was to aid children birth to 4 in becoming kindergarten ready. We did this by providing parents with the tools to become their child’s first and foremost teacher.
Promoting an ease around books that builds into a love of reading was a goal of the program. Dealing with abbreviated attention spans, I quickly saw the benefits in using puppets as an enticement for a child to explore books.
Please take the opportunity to explore this site and get familiar with the various opportunities to mesh the exploration of books with puppet play. It is my hope, characters fictitious and known can unlock you child’s imagination and act as a catalyst into the world of reading. Besides, after a heavy dose of reality that we as adults are often faced in our daily lives, you should certainly appreciate the laughter and silliness that awaits you as you slip that dashing duck or bombastic bear over your fingers.