Kathleen Krull - Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played with Puppets

Text copyright 2011 by Kathleen Krull
Jacket art and interior illustrations copyright 2011 by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher

Photograph of Jim Henson courtesy of The Jim Henson Company.

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Krull, Kathleen.
Jim Henson : the guy who played with puppets / by Kathleen Krull; illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-375-85721-8 (trade) ISBN 978-0-375-95721-5 (lib. bdg.) ISBN: 978-0-375-98914-8 (ebk)
1. Henson, JimJuvenile literature. 2. PuppeteersUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. 3. Television producers and directorsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. 4. Muppet show (Television program)Juvenile literature.
I. Johnson, Steve, ill. II. Fancher, Lou, ill. III. Title.
PN1982.H46K78 2011 791.53092dc22 [B] 2010043837

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To the always playful Dalia Hartman Bergsagel and Robin Hansen, and in memory of Janet Schulman, a joy to work with

K.K.

For Janet Schulman, with deepest gratitude

S.J. and L.F.

When I was young, my ambition was to be one of the people who made a difference in this world.

Jim Henson (19361990)

J im Hensons family didnt have a TV. No one had a TV in the 1930s.

So how could a lively boy entertain himself? By kicking off his shoes and loving his life along the Mississippi River.

A creek bubbled right past Jims big old farmhouse. Thats where he and his brother, Paul, fished and swam. On hot, humid nights, they watched fireflies flickering and listened to frogs croaking nonstop in the swamps. Listening, watching, singing, and telling storiesthat was entertainment.

Daydreaming and nature watching kept him busy, observing the animals and birds of Leland, Mississippi. He took care of his petshis dog, Toby, his pony, turtles, snakes, frogs. He drew what he saw and also what he imaginedfilling notebooks with creatures he made up.

At his grandparents house, he liked to listen to his cousins trying to top each other with hilarious stories at the dinner table.

He was closer to his grandmother than to anyone else in his family. For hours, they would sit on the porch, rocking back and forth, as she stitched beautiful quilts or painted, or told him storiesand, most important, listened to his.

Usually he kept his thoughts to himself. He didnt like to bother people.

With friends, including a best friend named Kermit, he played games. Not team sports (he was always the last to be chosen). But Ping-Pong and tennis and board games.

He put on shows for the family in the backyard, using props he found around the house. A sheet and towel from his mothers linen closet? Perfect as a cloak and turban while he played a flute to cast a spell on the coiled garden hose, posing as a snake.

He made his first public appearance as a Cub Scout. While a fellow Scout tried to tell jokes, Jim stood behind him, wrapped his arms around his friends chest, and waved a white handkerchief in his face. Everyone giggled. Making people laughto Jim, that was magic.

In search of more, he performed in school plays, working behind stage as well.

Still no TV, but he and Paul built their own crystal radio set. Jim hurried home from school to catch action shows like The Green Hornet and The Shadow. On Sunday nights, he loved a comedy with ventriloquist Edgar Bergen talking to his dummy, a wooden puppet named Charlie McCarthy.

Comic strips and books fed his imagination. He was especially impressed with the way L. Frank Baum created a world alive with details in the Oz series.

He wrote poetry, and he kept drawing, illustrating every school report whether the teachers asked him to or not.

Saturday afternoons were for going to the movies. The first one he ever saw was MGMs The Wizard of Oz. It remained his favoriteonce he got over being scared by the lions roar that started every movie from MGM.

Jims thirteenth year stood out. A daily newspaper published one of his cartoonshis first appearance in print.

By now, his family was living in Hyattsville, Maryland. TV sets were showing up in some homes, and Jim nagged his parents nonstop to buy one.

They resisted, worrying that TV was a bad influence on children. But in 1950, they gave in.

The set was small, with fuzzy images in black and white. But TV connected peoplelike his family, as they gathered in the living room to watch shows together, shows that were actually being filmed