I’ve been working out the puppet mechanics for the title character in the story Hans Dudledee, beginning with modeling his hip and knee joints in clay. Young Hans is an unlikely hero whose humility and kindness win the day. He sits down at the shore to fish at key moments in the story, and so his body must be designed with this in mind. I see Hans plunking himself down directly to the ground, dropping easily into a splayed-knee position. Today I made it to the basic mechanics of the posture; my next step will be to add refinements to the shapes of the joints in a firmer material. With luck we’ll end up with a puppet that moves as only Hans Dudledee could!