Paper Puppet Palooza: Techniques for Making Moveable Art Figures and Paper Dolls [Paperback]

Norma V. Toraya (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2009

Even today, with the proliferation of fancy electronics, computers, and video games, people are still enchanted by the simple, funny movement created by a flat, two-dimensional paper puppet; they are automatically, and inherently, amusing. This book teaches readers how to make a wide variety of moveable paper puppets, charming toys, and novel, artful gifts. The projects are beautiful, magical, whimsical and will appeal to readers with many different craft interests. There is something very childlike about puppets, yet they are not easily dismissed into something strictly ‘for children’. Paper puppets are versatile, easy to make, and can be used with many types of artwork such as on cards or in shadow boxes.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Norma Toraya, aka Crankbunny, is an animation director for Curious Pictures in NYC where she works on commercials, music videos, TV intros, documentaries, and projections for different clients. Her animation work and charming puppet work can be found online at www.crankbunny.com. For more information about the book visit www.paperpuppetpalooza.com

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Quarry Books (February 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592534848
• ISBN-13: 978-1592534845
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #242,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Some things in life are slick, polished and blatantly obvious. But for Norma V. Toraya, who's also known as Crankbunny, these are exactly the things she shies away from. Instead, she's more inclined to explore timeless concepts like subtly, curiosity, texture and awkwardness. Her hand-drawn and computer-animated creations are often described as dark, sometimes noir and always magical.

Norma V Toraya lives in NYC and works as an animation director for Curious Pictures / Electric Company Toronto. She animates commercials, TV intros, music videos, projections, works on personal films, builds mechanical paper puppets, and runs a small shop. She has have a big fancy schooled fine-arts and film/animation background - yet ironically has a fear of movie theaters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book that offers more on paper doll mechanics, March 26, 2009

By 

Suzanne V. Ebeling-urban "Suzanne in CT" (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paper Puppet Palooza: Techniques for Making Moveable Art Figures and Paper Dolls (Paperback)

I purchased this book after buying the authors wonderfully whimsical paperdolls on ETSY. I'm an illustrator and have always loved making paper dolls and would like to create some to sell that can serve as wall ornamentation. This book helped me to figure out how I can do this, for those looking to make paper dolls from the author's designs, she offers her own designs in the book for the hobbyist to cut out and create.

Paper dolls are coming in to their own and I am busy working on some designs now. I think this book offers more info on how to construct a doll so they move mechanically and well.

I'd suggest all art doll creators, teachers, animation teachers, illustrators invest in this book if they want to animate their hand drawn characters or get their students involved in construction of 2-D characters that can move.

Suzanne Urban
[...]

Paper Puppet Palooza: Techniques for Making Moveable Art Figures and Paper Dolls

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a world of puppetty excitement!, February 11, 2009

By 

V. Burnett - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paper Puppet Palooza: Techniques for Making Moveable Art Figures and Paper Dolls (Paperback)

How we love this book! Crankbunny's off-beat sense of humor shows on every page of this book. That alone makes it worth purchasing, but the instructions and illustrations are also very clear and clever. Turns out, paper puppet making isn't all that difficult or expensive, but newbies will benefit from the confidence and encouragement this book provides.

Instructions include basic paper puppets with just a few joints, puppets with moving mouths, shadow puppets, puppets with pull tabs and even gift cards containing puppets or other movable parts.

Two big bonuses - both the front and back cover flaps include a full color, heavyweight, glossy puppet template for you to put together and play with while you dream up your own puppet characters. What fun!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magical!, September 7, 2009

By 

Latin Pod (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Paper Puppet Palooza: Techniques for Making Moveable Art Figures and Paper Dolls (Paperback)

The artwork in this book is fantastic! It is like taking a tour through a magical kingdom, where fantasy and reality meet. Norma V. Toraya has provided templates that can be copied onto cardstock, colored, cut, and assembled into fully working puppets - there's even 2 gorgeous puppets that are ready to cut and assemble. However, a skilled artist could use the techniques provided to create original puppets. The materials are easily available in any art and/or crafts store. I highly recommend this book to school teachers, artists, doll makers, animators, and anyone who enjoys dramatics.