The puppeteers of Storybook Puppet Theater use many kinds of puppets to tell their stories. Here are the most popular.

In the Japanese puppetry form known as bunraku, the puppeteers share the stage with their puppets, manipulating them by means of handles inside the puppets. Complicated puppets may require three puppeteers.

To manipulate a hand puppet (pictured above), the puppeteer inserts his or her hand inside the body of the puppet—or, if the puppet is very large, inside the head only. Many classic puppet shows, including “Punch and Judy,” use hand puppets.

Marionettes are puppets moved by strings. This very old style of puppetry originated in medieval France and is still very popular today. Grimm's Fairy Tales - Hansel & Gretel - (pictured to the right), is an example of a marionette production.

Shadow puppets, sometimes known by their Balinese name, wayang, originated in Indonesia in ancient times. The figures are attached to straight sticks, with the heads left free to swivel.