Puppets are a play-time favorite in countless classrooms. With the ability to capture and nurture a child's imagination, puppets have great untapped potential as creative teaching aids.

Disproving the notion that puppets are strictly for play, "A Show of Hands "presents innovative ways for teachers to use puppets as valuable and developmentally appropriate teaching tools. Drawing from over fifty years of combined experience in the arts and education, the authors--one an award-winning puppeteer, the other an arts educator and writer--illustrate how the use of puppets can support emergent literacy skills, introduce children's literature, manage the classroom, and assist in the development of lesson plans tailored to the specific needs of the teacher and class.

An ideal resource for teachers from preschool to early primary, "A Show of Hands "also includes helpful instructions for designing, constructing, or purchasing your own puppets, as well as how puppets may be used with children diagnosed with autism, ADD/ADHD, or a hearing or vision impairment.

Ingrid M. Crepeau is a founding member of Grammy-nominated Dinorock Productions, Inc. She has been working as a puppeteer/educator in early childhood classrooms for over thirty years. She lives in Reston, Virginia.

M. Ann Richards works as a freelance writer for local and national parenting and early childhood publications and has worked in the education departments of many Washington, D.C., area arts organizations. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.