PUPPET PARTY

Easier to look at and easier to duplicate, though infinitely less sophisticated in repertoire than Laura Ross's Hand Puppets (1969), this gallery of quick concoctions -- starring a paper plate Singing Frog, a cardboard tube Dragon and a Silly Billy rubber ball -- should be just enough to amuse the dilettante puppet-maker who would as soon do a little work with his imagination as overtax his hands. The finished products may never look as good as the brightly colored samples shown acting out on the pages facing the instructions, but these are inviting, unpretentious self-starters, whether used as party favors as the last page suggests or (more likely) for an impromptu rainy day performance.