This collection of fourteen pieces, together entitled Puppets, plays an exceptional role in the catalogue of early works by Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959), namely in that it represents the first works by Martinu which transcended his initial attempts at composition and quickly found a publisher. Thanks to its witty musical ideas and the composer's empathy for children and their intellectual world, Puppets has,since its first edition, always been highly popular among performers.