THE FIVE BOOKS YOU WOULD TAKE TO A DESERT ISLAND AND WHY

Steve Sherman, 50, is a puppeteer and writer who co-owns the Puppet Studio, a Hollywood company that creates three-dimensional characters for film, television and commercials.

1. “The History of Animation: Enchanted Drawings,” by Charles Solomon

It’s a big book about cartoons. It’s one of those books you can look at over and over again, with pictures and stories, like a big coffee table book. It contains all the different characters and styles dating back to the early 1900s. I guess I’m going to be doing a lot of drawing on this desert island. I’ll have plenty of time.

2. The Boy Scout Handbook

I think it has tips on how to survive on a desert island. Certainly the knot section would come in handy. So would the first-aid section. You need a book like that unless you are a professional outdoorsman and go camping a lot.

3. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s “Fantastic Four” comic books, Nos. 1-100

Those are great stories. It was Jack and Stan at the peak of their storytelling in terms of characters and comics. It was the best they ever achieved. It would be helpful there for mentally escaping. But you know, recalling “Gilligan’s Island,” I don’t remember them ever reading any books.

4. “Digital Compositing in Depth,” by Doug Kelly

It’s a 662-page book on computer compositing--the mixing of two images together from separate sources. It’s commonly known as blue screening. That’s what I’m focusing on right now in my work--on combining

puppets with three-dimensional backgrounds created in the computer. If I don’t get off the island, the book will be totally worthless, because you need electricity and a computer to do compositing.

5. The Bible

It’s one of those books you can read over and over again. It’s one I haven’t read in a long time, and I’ve never read it cover to cover. This would probably be the best opportunity.