Born in Berlin in 1899, young Lotte Reiniger was entranced by the new technology of movies as well as traditional stories, using her paper cutting skills and a set of puppets to stage a living room production of Romeo and Juliet. As a young adult she joined the crew of famed actor and director Paul Wegener, first creating intertitles and eventually designing sets, costumes, and special effects for his films. An early adopter of stop motion animation and inventor of the multiplane camera, Lotte also made the first full-length silhouette animation film, The Adventures of Prince Achmed, a box office success. Stylized illustrations and silhouettes capture the time period of Lotte’s life and the creative quality of her groundbreaking art in this captivating account. An extensive Author’s Note provides further details about Lotte’s personal life and work in animation, including a discussion of orientalism and stereotyping in The Adventures of Prince Achmed. ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center

(Ages 5-10)