Puppet Power with Michael Moodoo

K-Gr 6—Michael Moodoo, puppeteer and animator, demonstrates how to create five different puppets using common household items. Some of the projects, like the caterpillar puppet, are quite simple and could be completed by children as young as kindergarten age. Others, like the lion and monkey puppets, are more complicated and appropriate for middle or upper grade school children. Some of the puppets are made primarily out of paper, while others use socks, pom-poms, Popsicle sticks, paper cups, and other common craft items. All the finished puppets are colorful and appealing. For each project, Moodoo first shows what supplies are needed and then demonstrates step-by-step how to make the puppet. He speaks slowly and clearly at a level accessible to children while key phrases of the instructions appear in text along the bottom of the screen. Much of the video shows close-ups of Moodoo's hands while he performs each step, so it is easy to follow along. The sound and picture quality are inconsistent. Moodoo's voice often sounds hollow, as if he were speaking in a large empty room, and the video sometimes goes briefly out of focus. Activity TV: Puppets (Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, 2008) is a slicker but more advanced presentation, and offers ideas for making a puppet theater and creating puppet shows. Despite the technical imperfections, Puppet Power series is good resource for children's craft ideas.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT