Folkmanis Puppets: Baby Sea Otter

Well, another cutie from Folkmanis came across my desk — or maybe I should say, “swam” across my desk: it’s their Baby Sea Otter hand puppet, and it’s a real cutie.

As is the norm with Folkmanis, the workmanship and materials are excellent: the body is covered in a long brown plush, while the face is white, with somewhat shorter plush. The whiskers are a soft cotton yarn, and the eyes are large and lustrous. The cute button nose, tiny little ears, and large webbed hind feet are black vinyl. And once again, the body is essentially a furry bag with a wide opening for the hand under the tail. As I’ve come to expect, my hand is a little large for this one — it’s only about seven or eight inches long — but a smaller hand should have no problem. I even had a friend, with somewhat smaller hands than mine, try it — it was almost a perfect fit. One difficulty: there are openings for the head, front legs, and hind legs, but neither I nor my friend was able to fit fingers into all of them at the same time. And if by some chance you managed that, you’re one finger short of being able to open and close the mouth.

That’s the only real problem with this one. His expression is winsome, but alert — I think it’s the perky little ears.

The label has several fun facts about sea otters — did you know that sea otters have no blubber and rely on a double layer of fur to preserve their body heat? There’s also a little story about Clo the baby sea otter, who learns the importance of good grooming.

I think this little guy is going next to the Little Hedgehog.

Robert

Robert M. Tilendis lives a deceptively quiet life. He has made money as a dishwasher, errand boy, legal librarian, arts administrator, shipping expert, free-lance writer and editor, and probably a few other things he’s tried very hard to forget about. He has also been a student of history, art, theater, psychology, ceramics, and dance. Through it all, he has been an artist and poet, just to provide a little stability in his life. Along about January of every year, he wonders why he still lives someplace as mundane as Chicago; it must be that he likes it there. You may e-mail him, but include a reference to Green Man Review so you don’t get deleted with the spam.

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