Jim Henson was a young boy who loved to entertain and make people laugh. When he grew up, he took his passion for tv, entertainment, and puppets and combined them together to create shows that brought families together and still run to this very day. As I’m sure most people have, I grew up watching Sesame Street and the Muppets, both being a major part of my childhood, but I never knew who created the show and honestly even cared. The story of Jim Henson is one that shows that belief and staying true to one’s self leads to accomplishing your dreams. Everyone thought Henson was crazy and weird and doubted him every step of his journey, but he never let their thoughts and opinions affect his dreams and goals in life. Henson brought joy and laughter to many people’s lives, including mine, paving the way for others and allowing his legacy to live on. While I never cared to who Jim Henson was before, I do care now as he has had an impact on my life and I never knew it before. ( )

My husband passes through Leland, MS for work often. He always tells me it's where Jim Henson grew up. So, I was curious when I saw this book on the shelf. What I liked most about this book is that the author has "Jim Henson" and "The Guy Who Played with Puppets" written on every page. One side is his name and the other side is what he is known for. For learners like me, I thought this was unique. Of course, I will not forget who Jim Henson is, but it is definitely planted in my brain now from the repetitiveness of those words. The illustrator provides glimpses of Jim's life. They make you feel like you are right there in his life watching him play at the creek or sit with his grandma on the front porch. What I thought was interesting about his life is that his father thought puppets would not provide a comfortable life for him and encouraged him to find other interests. How wrong was he? I also thought it was important to let readers know that even though most grown-ups do not play with puppets, Jim did because that is what he enjoyed doing. ( )

this book tells the story of Jim Henson, starting with a young Jim growing up in the 1930's. Like many children of that time, he spent most of his time outside in nature, or having conversations with his grandmother. Jim always had a serious imagination and would often read comic strips, books, and preform in school plays or work backstage. This drove Jim to go against his original path of learning and becoming a science man, and trading it all for his love of working with puppets. He started with simple marionettes, and practiced and furthered his skills until the day he created the Kermit the Frog and his character flourished tremendously. This book, I feel, would be a great book to read to my students in grades 3rd-6th because too often we read about presidents, or astronauts, but overlook every day people who made their life what they wanted to make it. Jim Henson is a great example of a man who took his love for creativity and imagination, and turned it into a passion, a career, and a legacy!

Jim Henson grew up in the 1930s with no tv or much technology. He spent his days outside with nature and his pets or talking to his grandmother. He loved performing in school plays and even working back stage. Henson fed his imagination with comic strips and books. Although his father wanted to prepare him for a career in science, he was a TV job playing with puppets. His first job was working with marionettes. Then in college he got his first puppet show "Sam and Friends." To create the now famous Kermit, Henson cut up his mom's old green coat and stitched it onto a comical shape. In the 1960s his puppets made view in a lot of commercials and made guest appearances on programs like "The Ed Sullivan Show." Henson got a call about a show called "Sesame Street." This launched in 1969 and went on to win many awards later. ( )

This book is about the life of Jim Henson. He is significant for creating the very popular tv shows the Muppets and Sesame Street. I had no idea that Jim Henson was even involved in Sesame Street! I also learned that he grew up next to the Mississippi River. I was very impressed to learn that he had landed a job in the tv business as a puppeteer at the young age of sixteen! I loved that he eventually began to focus on children as his main audience after realizing that TV can be used to help people. I also learned how his imagination was considered genius by most people who knew him and his ideas helped contribute and shape the most famous puppet television shows that people still watch to this day. The way this book was organized was very interesting and effective. When having the book open faced, the left page would give detailed information about his life with a small illustration of a specific detail from the text which was also placed directly under that text. These illustrated details helped point out a chronology of major influences that affected Jim Henson's creativity. The page on the right showed a more inclusive drawing of a scene described on the previous page. I loved that Jim Henson saw puppeteering as a serious art form. I also believe this performative art form has lots of potential and should be used more nowadays. ( )