Country
Italy

Tale typology
Intercultural traditions

Age Suitability
Suitable for 4-7 years old children

Tale summary
Guignol is the famous puppet created by Laurent Mourguet around 1808. Laurent Mourguet used to work in the silk industry but unfortunately he lost his job, so he decided to become a kind of dentist on marketplaces: he used to pull his patients’ teeth rather than cure them!
In order to get his clients’ attention and convince them to open their mouths, he used some puppets who he had personall designed and crafted.
Making people laugh is surely better than making them suffer, for that reason and because he had a great success as puppeteer, he decided to change his job again and opened a puppet theater.
The shows of Guignol and his friend Gnafron became and are still very popular for an adult and young audience.

Educational potential / Learning Outcomes
This story was told by a mother; she is from Lyon, in France. This story has been chosen for its simplicity and it offers to children the opportunity to live sensory experiences. Teachers together with children built a little puppet theater by using recycled materials; after that children independently staged a play with their puppets.This drama activity helps to develop children’s fantasy.

Full Plot
Guignol is the main character in a French puppet show which has taken his name. It represents the workers in the French silk industry. He spends a lot of his time with Gnafron who is Guignol’s friend and confidant. He is funny.
Guignol has short-nosed, round eyed and perpetually surprised, he was easily duped but quick to extricate himself from trouble and to help his friends and drinking companions.
Gnafron, an often-inebriated shoemaker with a red face and a blue beard. He is Guignol’s confidant.
The story is set in Lyon, in France. Children have come to know France and Lyon by looking at pictures of the city, of typical dishes and of textile factories.

One Lesson Plan
Teachers used the LIM to show the pictures of Lyon and Guignol and to show how a silkworm builds a cocoon.
Teachers made a video with children’ spontaneous drama activities. Children have made up a story, then they make a performance with the puppet theater.
Each child built a Guignol’s puppet by using recycled materials, then they built a little loom with recycled materials: this activity develops children’s motor skills.