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Puppeteers Guide
Puppeteers Guide
Background:
Chinese children are named with special care. It is said boys have names of the "head," words
that symbolize bravery and strength such as "sturdy pine." Girls are given names of the "heart"
which include words relating to beauty and grace, such as "flower." The heroine in The Warlord's
Puppeteers is named "Jing Jing" meaning "quiet." The hero's name, "Chuan," may be pronounced
"Chwan" and means "river."
2. What does the picture on the front cover of The Warlord's Puppeteers show us?
1. If listeners are familiar with The Warlord's Fish, the reader may pause after the first
page and ask how the Chuan and the artist came to be at an oasis far from the warlord's palace.
(Kidnapped by silk road traders, Chuan and the artist were given their freedom at the edge of the
Taklamakan Desert.)
2. The picture of the bandits riding into camp is an appropriate place for conjecture about what
will happen next.
1. Why didn't the artist want to travel alone? Was his fear justified? Why or why not?
2. What do you remember about the puppets that the master puppeteer brought with him? What
were the heads made of?
3. Where did the travelers sleep at night? Which do you think was the safest?
5. Why do you think the bandits took only the most valuable things?
6. Why did the puppet master think the artist would have an easier time continuing the
journey?
7. Why did Chuan need to understand ratio to make new puppets from vegetables? What would
you tell him to help him understand the ratio of head to body?
9. How do you think the powerful warlord felt about Chuan and the artist? Why? How do you
think he felt about the puppet troupe? Why?
10. Following the directions on the craft page of The Warlord's Puppeteers, help children create
glove puppets and act out the story as it is read again.
In memory of
5th generation puppet master, Yang Feng,
who graciously offered his expertise to
the author. Mr. Yang passed away in June
of 2003 in China.
2. Ask children to guess (hypothesize) how the head to body ratio might change as baby grows to
adulthood. To test their guesses, children can compare the head to body ratios of baby pictures
(their own or ones cut from magazines) with their present head to body ratios and those of parents
or teachers.
3. An old-fashioned way to measure a child for socks was to wrap the foot of the sock, heel to toe
around the child's fist. Do you think this works? To check, measure the circumference of the fist
and compare with the length of the foot. Equal??
Background: Shadow puppets are first mentioned in a Chinese legend recorded 2000 years ago.
They are still popular with people of all ages. Shadow plays are most often performed in China
during the week between Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival. Originally made from paper,
shadow puppets are now constructed from leather. Plays begin with loud music. Each puppet
introduces himself with a bow and a rhyme at his first appearance. Puppeteers carry bundles of
handwritten scripts, handed down for generations. These scripts are only outlines of the plots and
notes about the characters from which the plays are improvised. Each performance is a special,
unique telling of the story.
Students may draw characters with marking pens, use puppet given in this study guide, or trace
characters from any of the Warlord books onto tracing paper or light-weight copier paper and then
glue onto heavier paper before cutting. A tongue depressor or craft stick is taped to the back for a
"rod" to hold the puppet upright.
Stage Supplies: large cardboard box (about 15"x 21") white cloth to cover end, stapler,
light source such as a desk lamp.
Chinese Poetry Game
Background: Lu shi, or rhyming pairs, is a game to stretch the mind. To play, two people take
turns composing a parallel couplet, a favorite style of poetry during medieval China. Although
most English translations are in free verse, the original poetry rhymed, making the game even more
challenging. Try with free verse, and then for fun, try rhyming the last words of each line.
The following poem by famous Tang dynasty poet Du Fu is an example of parallel couplets.
A Curtailed Verse
1. Notice the matching words in the first two lines of the poem.
Orioles and Egrets are both birds.
Willow tree and blue sky are both places birds would go.
Sing and soar are both things birds do.
3. Chinese poetry seeks to form a picture in the reader's mind and share the poet's feelings
about the scene. "A Curtailed Verse" is further unified by the number words in each line.
1st player adds an action word (for example, white dove "flies").
2nd player answers with a matching action word (for example, gray pigeon "hops").
1st child completes line (for example, 'The" white dove flies "away").
2nd child completes line (for example, "The" gray pigeon hops to me).
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