About the book

This is an artist's enchanting, insightful and quirky take on the burgeoning social network media. The characters in this tongue-in-cheek story about friendships are the author's lovingly crafted dede hand puppets. It is a yarn, so common, so real life, that everyone with a little bit of life experience can relate to it. A wonderful gift for a friend, or of course to read yourself and chuckle.

The story kicks off with a random email from an unknown person:
"This morning I found a message in my email inbox. Some Body wants to be my friend on one of those social network sites. You know the ones – I have forgotten the name, there are so many – the ones where you can put up pictures of friends and family for everyone else to see.
Two minor problems though: firstly, I have never heard of Some Body and secondly, I don't have a page on one of those sites..."

...And then we meet the narrator's real friends with all their idiosyncrasies. Among them are Chance and her half-sister Detail, The Professor, who loves to hang out with the boozing Pig, and Witch, who is always concerned about nutritious food. Then Bad Conscience, a chap we are all aquainted with, makes an appearance...

The story is multilayered and there is as much to be read between the lines as there is in the written word. Lightheartedly it takes a poke at social networks and relationships between friends. It touches on the foibles of human nature and myriad traits found in a cross section of people. A delightful, charming, and sometimes laugh out loud funny story.

The dede puppets are inspired by the European dada art movement of the 1920s, in particular the collage art of that era. There is much detail in the faces and heads that point towards the nature of each character.

If you have a sense of humour you will enjoy this astute observation of human nature.

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ISBN 978-0-473-20669-7, quality hard cover, stitched, 76 pages, 160mm x 150mm.

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About the Author

Dietlind Wagner is a German born artist living in New Zealand. In her professional career she has covered all facets of publishing: From managing publications to running a publishing house, to writing, to designing... She is founder of Zeitgeist design and still works hands on, as well as teaching digital imaging at a tertiary institution.

On a rainy day in December 2011 – pretty much out of the blue – Dietlind started making paper maché hand puppets, primarily to dispose of a rather large pile of newspaper in her studio. The puppet idea was sparked by memories of her childhood and tales from her mother. Encouraged by her real friends' overwhelmingly positive reaction to her new creations, she wrote the story to share the characters with a wider audience.

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To find out more about Dietlind's art and her dede puppets, read her blog dedepuppets.com

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What the readers said

Delightful sense in non-sense | Mike, soul mate
Entertaining, thoughtful, and these puppets are alive | Rae, friend
I fell in love with these unique puppet characters | Jules, friend
Original, quirky, with a dose of insight | Barbara, sports buddy
An intriguing conundrum | Dale, next-door business owner
A ‘Meisterwerk’ of its own kind and will be thoroughly enjoyed by those with appropriate insight | Nick, neighbouring wordsmith