Thought I should post this because I really enjoyed myself the other day. So I thought a good way to practice my puppet work would be to volunteer at the library reading to small children. Well I got the first date, got Bopper the Sock Monster and off I went. 2-4 year olds and a five minute story everyone here probably knows called ‘The Gruffalo’! Well, Bopper was excited about a story about a monster but started to get scared when the graffalo was described but was happy at the end that the mouse got away. Anyway, the kids where in fits of laughter, which I liked, at Bopper’s antics. The parents too. I got asked back again which is cool but I got to thinking; ‘The Gruffalo’ could make a really good puppet show if narrated along with the puppets acting it out. Has anyone ever read it? It's AWESOME! Maybe other kids books/stories can work doing like this but I don't know the legal aspects of it. 'Green Eggs and Ham' anyone?

-T

Sounds like you had a great time.............. Practice makes perfect and this is a good way to get your foot in the door. Could be a regular gig. thanks for sharing.

Sounds like you had as much fun as the children!! That is the best part of my job too!! You have nothing to worry about with the stories when you are doing volunteer work - the tricky part comes when you are being paid. Someone with a little more knowledge can tell you and there are folks on the forum who know about this. It gets annoying frankly - because all we are trying to do is share the love of literature! Why does it have to be so complicated!!
Anyway keep up the good work!!

Normally if you want to turn a children's book into a puppet play you need to have the permission of the author. If you can find contact information for the author like email or snail mail then go ahead and send them a request to them. If not then contact their publisher and see if they can put you in contact with the author.  

I know for a fact 'The Gruffalo' is already in show format, because it's been playing at a theatre in my town and has puppets in it. It's been produced by a UK company. I can dig out the info, but yeah, you'd need to obtain the rights and they might be harder to get if someone has already done a show with it.

Sounds like you had as much fun as the children!! That is the best part of my job too!! You have nothing to worry about with the stories when you are doing volunteer work - the tricky part comes when you are being paid.

This isn't quite right. Generally it comes under 'fair use' if you're not earning money from the show, but I've known local amateur shows to get 'cease and desists' for not obtaining the rights for music that's used in their show. It really depends on the local laws and it's better to play it safe than get sued IMHO.

Generally speaking though, writers are happy to have their work presented on stage and royalties may not be astronomical.

I always say "why spend the money on royalties when you can make your own music/text?"

Then the only copyright owner you have to worry about is yourself.

but I've known local amateur shows to get 'cease and desists' for not obtaining the rights for music that's used in their show. It really depends on the local laws and it's better to play it safe than get sued IMHO.

Yeah music is a whole other issue. Thankfully there are LOTS of royalty free music companies and that is all I use.
There are a lot of old folk tales that are considered public domain that can be re-written in your own style and then made into a play and those have no issues either.

I just discovered a couple books that I ordered that appear to have all the information you will need to wade through this legal issue.

http://www.amazon.com/Public-Domain-Copyright-Free-Writings-Music/dp/1413312055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311701549&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Permission-License-Copyrighted-Materials/dp/1413312705/ref=pd_sim_b_1

Okay LJ I've just added those 2 books to my Amazon wish list! Thanks! I have wondered about this because I have dreams of adapting Gilbert and Sullivan into puppet plays. If you're going to dream, dream big, right?

Thanks LJ.............. I added these to the Amazon book list here at P&S. If you have any other good books you would like me to add let me know.