When you perform puppetry in the library, you are not just telling a story but creating it anew. You are sharing the importance of language skills, speaking, and listening. You are making literature real and relevant to children for whom it is often anything but. You are creating an immediacy that not even TV can compete with. Watch children's eyes, hands, and faces change when they see the Troll threaten the Billy Goats. Listen to their roar as you repeat the magic word that will turn a dog into a king. Other books give a quick and easy tips to help librarians for whom puppetry is only one of seemingly hundreds of things they must do. How To Do "The Three Bears with Two Hands": Performing with Puppets is for those who want to bear down and hone their craft. In seventeen years of performing puppetry, author Walter Minkel has staged two thousand shows in one hundred libraries. He shares his tips on: staging puppet shows in typical library spaces; creating characters with voices and puppet manipulation; writing scripts and adapting stories from children's literature; performing solo and working with other staff and volunteers; and using puppets as ambassadors to the community. Appendixes feature four sample scripts and specific stage-building plans.