'Pelham Puppet Players' Show Packs the House at the Library

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The community was treated to a free puppet show at the Pelham
Public Library on Nov. 9.

To the delight of the audience—children of all ages and their parents—
brought to life well-known folk tales featuring puppets they had created themselves. The young performers enacted stories such as "The Four Magicians,"" Goha Gives His Son a Lesson About Life," "The Very Smart Pea" and "The Princess, and Tricky Mr. Rabbit."

The “sold out” performance on Nov 9th was a culmination of a series of hands-on
sessions conducted by artist Amelia Carling and librarian Lilly Hecker.

Participants of the program were busy for two months preparing for the
show. During the six 90-minute hands-on after school workshops, the children read selected folk tales, discussed the morals of the tales, created puppets that represented the characters and enacted the stories using their puppets.

“Kids and puppets make a great pair," said Hecker. "No matter how shy or nervous a child may be, when he or she is holding a felt creature with a mouth that talks, shyness disappears because it is the puppet character that speaks."

The program was made possible thanks to the volunteer efforts of the Junior League of Pelham. This is the second year the League has supported this successful program as part of the ongoing community project, “Library
Partners.” The project is designed to promote a love of reading and library usage among children, explore the connection between reading and other forms of creative expression and increase the use of the library by young readers.

The Junior League of Pelham is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Visit www.jlpelham.org for more information.