You never know what the January winds will bring. Here, in a mountainous, forgotten corner of Mexico, they blew in a puppeteer.

That's right - an Italian puppeteer, living the vie boheme, who dons a vest with an appliquéd sun and a healthy looking stock of corn.

He performed for my students this week, and we were all quite smitten.

Such an unexpected visitor and his puppet-entourage that travels the world by his side in a pink backpack-on-wheels can mean only one thing - February is now A Month of Puppets!**

**Well, at least that was my good intention! The month has evolved into a few humble posts and a pile of unfinished puppets. One of these days I'll finish the projects and post about the experience - I promise!

I hope you will join me as I explore the world of puppetry.  Expect everything from historical anecdotes and little-known facts to suggestions and tutorials on how to make different kinds of puppets and marionettes - there's a lot of messy work going on behind-the-scenes in my puppet studio!

And just to get you in the mood and to introduce the Month of Puppets theme song, have a look at this clip from The Sound of Music:

Did I mention that I want to model my own children after the von Trapps? Minus the whistle, I mean ... which wouldn't be very Montessori. ;)