Ashley Bryan's Puppets: Making Something from Everything

A riveting collection of puppets made from found objects at the seashore. Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Lifetime Achievement winner Bryan here presents the uncanny fruit of over 50 years of artistry and beachcombing. A child of the Depression, Bryan early on developed a penchant for collecting cast-off items from New York City sidewalks. As an adult, when walking the shores of Maine's Little Cranberry Island, he does the same, now turning much of his seaside bounty into the more than 30 hand puppets captured here in exquisite detail by photographer Hannon. Not only do shells, sea glass and driftwood find new life in Bryan's African folklore-inspired creations, but bits of net, marbles, thumbtacks, gloves, twine, all kinds of bones, watchbands, forks, fur and a bedpost--not to mention the occasional button--and more amazingly transform into appendages and accessories. As if his wildly fashioned creatures don't have enough character, Bryan gives each of his puppets a name and poem describing both what it's made from and its vision. Says the shamanlike Spirit Guardian: "We are born of cast-off pieces / And, like magic, brought alive / By your own imagination. / That's the gift / By which we thrive." A stunning work of creative genius sure to captivate the young and lend pure delight to beachcombers of any age. (Picture book/poetry. 4 & up)

Copyright 2014 Kirkus Reviews, LLC Used with permission.

It's impossible to come away from this book without renewed respect for Ashley Bryan as a fine artist. In addition to being a storyteller and illustrator, Bryan has been making puppets from found materials for nearly sixty years. Here he presents photos and poems for a selection of those puppets, each poem told in the first person and titled with the puppet's name (drawn from various African cultures). Made primarily from objects found on the beach in Maine -- driftwood, shells, cloth, bones -- these characters bear some resemblance to medieval grotesques. The poem introducing Kwesi, an elephant creature, begins, "Stew bones fashioned for a trunk, / Rib bones for a tusk; / Shoulder bones, my perfect ears, / Opal eyes a must." A few are humorous, like Ewunike with toilet brush hair ("I'm always antiseptic"); others are "regal" (beautiful Animata, for example). One -- Babatu, "Peacemaker" -- bears resemblance to its creator. There's no plot here, just puppets, and hints at individual personalities and family relationships make one wish for more. Bryan's strong storytelling voice sometimes gives way to forced rhymes, broken rhythms, or tacked-on lessons. But the artistry shown in the puppets themselves is enough to forgive small flaws -- and long for a chance to see the puppets in action. lolly robinson

Copyright 2014 Horn Book Magazine, LLC Used with permission.

Grades 1-4. Noted storyteller and artist Bryan has walked the shoreline of Little Cranberry Island in Maine, where he has lived for years, collecting treasures—sea glass, driftwood, fishing nets, crab claws, doorknobs—that he uses to fashion puppets. Bryan introduces more than three dozen named creations in poems and stunning full-color photographs. For example, the puppet Kwesi: “Stew bones fashioned for a trunk, / Rib bones for a tusk; / Shoulder bones, my perfect ears, / Opal eyes a must / . . . I’ll journey now to Africa / A proper elephant.” The poetry works well to clarify the details of each marionette, and Entel’s crisp photographs provide both full-body and close-up views for each. In an afterword, Nikki Giovanni contributes a poem about the creature Bryan constructed for her. Three puppets intentionally lack poems; Bryan encourages readers to compose their own. This makes a perfect companion to Bryan’s autobiography, Words to My Life’s Song (2009), or inspiration for a summer craft project.

Copyright 2014 Booklist, LLC Used with permission.

Bryan (Can't Scare Me!) shows off another side of his artistry in this enchanting photographic tour of more than 30 puppets he has fashioned out of the flotsam and jetsam he finds on the beach around his Maine island studio. Sticks and bleached bones are fashioned into heads and bodies, scraps of old clothing become long robes, and frayed rope and mops become hair. Gaunt, angular, and haunting, there's nothing toylike about Bryan's creations. They could be sorcerers or shamans--or they might be found leaning against the bar of the cantina in Star Wars. Hannon photographs each puppet on its own spread, each bearing its own (often African) name, epithet ("Lubangi, Born in Water"; "Chipu, Gift"), and poem. Several spreads show groups of puppets lined up, suggesting that Bryan thinks of them as a group, a clan, united by a shared vision. Babatu has a head of smooth carved wood and a jaunty mustache of wiry straw. "I'm peacemaker," he explains, "Trained, wise counselor./ Should any conflicts start, / I listen to their stories/ Till we're one in mind and heart." The Spirit Guardian's head of white bone suggests a horse; he's draped in a ceremonial robe of white. "My family of puppets/ Freely seek me and call./ I'm their Spirit Guardian, / I watch over them all." The close-up photographs allow readers to see how the puppets are made and contain an implicit invitation for them to create puppets of their own. Bryan speaks of seeing possibilities in that which others consider trash: "When you close this book/ And look up, / You'll see puppets everywhere." But the book is just as valuable as a portrait of an artist of color who is true to his own vision and who finds fulfillment doing the work he wants to do. "Artists are heroes," writes Nikki Giovanni in a short afterword. "They lay their emotions like so many plums in the sun to be dried by the light of truth and caring." Ages 4-up. (July)