The Life of Puppets

Recently a friend gave my son a small hand puppet, made by Banjo Puppets (they're in my Links column).

Of course, the next step was to play with said puppet.

For me, the best part of this video is not my amazingly strange accent (is this puppet from England? Australia? South Africa? Sweden? very mysterious, and slightly embarrassing).

It's the expressions on my son's face, throughout.

That puppet is as real to him as I am, or a cat, or a dog. It's just another creature in my son's daily life that wants to interact with him. Bring it on. Talking dishes? Sure. A tree that wants a hug? Why not.

I'll never have an easier audience, I should aim all by stuff at the toddler crowd.

But seriously- the full acceptance you can see in my son's face of that bit of fun fur with eyes as being alive is at the root of why puppets "work".