The Book Itself

A bit about the physical book has already been described.  The book is often square dimensions, instead of rectangular (length greater than width) like traditional books.  If rectangular, it will be oversize.  The covers are a more durable cardboard to protect the insides and to provide the counterweight that allows the constructions to pop up and out when the book is opened.  Dust jackets are not used.  The paper too is of a cardboard; it is thick enough to be able to support itself yet thinner than the kind used in toddler board books so that it can be folded.  Since the pages need the space to hold the folded paper constructions, the binding is not tightly corded like traditional books.  The pages are individually glued together, to create an accordion-like look, with the "points" reinforced and glued to the spine.

The front cover can show off the artistic style of the illustrations inside, while giving the usual information--title, author, and illustrator (along with the 'paper engineer', if they happen to be two different people).  Due to the special binding, publishers avoid wasting space and paper by listing the publishing and copyright information, the dedication, and the blurb the back cover.  Pagination is foregone throughout the book.

 

Most pop-up books, while their publishers are located in America (most I observed were in New York), are assembled in South America or China.

The Life of Pop-up

As discussed in the previous post, pop-up books have a long history.  However, for the sake of the examples that I could obtain graphical examples of, I will only show the history from the 1980's on.  Luckily, even this short amount of time, the radical growth and development of pop-up books can be seen.

The first example is the 1987 pop-up rendition of "The Tale of Tom Kitten".  Written by Beatrix Potter in 1907, this is a short story for children (very short, only six pages) about a misbehaving kitten and his sisters.  The pop-ups in this book, as you can see below, are very simple and geometric.

Potter, Beatrix.  (1987)  The Tale of Tom Kitten.  New York: Frederick Warne & Co.

Yet not two years later, Hugh Johnson creates a pop-up book definitely not aimed at a younger audience.  Matching the alcoholic subject matter, so too do the constructions mature into more complicated designs.

Johnson, Hugh.  (1989)  Hugh Johnson's Pop-up Wine Book.  New York: Harper & Row.

Also in 1989, my personal favorite pop-up book as a child, and the first book I learned to read on my own, was released.  The pop-ups were again geometric and nothing fancy, but The Pop-Up Mice of Mr. Brice featured pull and lift tabs and other novelties.

LeSieg, Theo.  (1989)  The Pop-Up Mice of Mr. Brice.  New York: Random House, Inc.

In 1999, we have an example from the National Geographic that shows how educators are embracing pop-up books to help kids have fun while learning about the world around them.  While aimed at a younger audience, the constructions are becoming more complex and delicate.

National Geographic Society.  (1999)  Creatures of the Desert World.  South America: National Geographic Society.

In the last decade, Robert Sabuda has been at the forefront of the pop-up book industry.  His books, while often classic children's tales, feature artistic and fantastic paper constructions to be carefully folded, re-folded and admired, which make his books great for young readers and adult collectors.  Sabuda also engineers movable pieces, as you can see in the video below:

Baum, Frank L. and Sabuda, Robert.  (2000)  The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  New York: Little Simon.

References

http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/libs/scua/montanar/p-ex.htm

For children! ...Sort of?

Ramon Llull, a Catalan mystic and poet from the 13th century, is one of the earliest known authors to use "movables" in his books.  His work was intellectual and aimed at other scholars, but in the 18th century, these "movables" were beginning to be produced for children's amusement thanks largely to London publisher Robert Sayer.

As you see here, pop-up books share similar physical qualities to the board books aimed at toddlers.  

David A. Carter's One Red Dot alongside one of the popular Osborne's Touchy-Feely books 

 Square proportions, and both using durable cardboard covers.  The cover protects the delicate pieces of the pop-up and provides the counterweight for the constructions once the books is open.

Pop-up books also share traits with children's picture books.  Both rely heavily on illustration and are typically light on story, perhaps a paragraph or two per page.  Here's a side-by-side comparison of the art-to-word ratio:

Sabuda, Robert.  (2005)  Winter's Tale.  New York, New York: Little Simon.
Van Allsburg, Chris.  (1985)  The Polar Express.  New York, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Otherwise, the pop-up stands out among all other book forms.  Whereas, most other books are two-dimensional, these rock the third.  The Wild Things didn't jump out at you, but the monsters in Maurice Sendak's Mommy? will!

Sendak, Maurice, Arthur Yorinks & Matthew Reinhart.  (2006)  Mommy?  China: Michael di Capua Books.

However, as the art and creativity behind pop-up books grew, so did its audience.  Today the book form has fans among both children and adults.  It is not difficult to trace that shift in consumption as the constructions became more delicate and elaborate.

References
http://www.library.unt.edu/rarebooks/exhibits/popup2/introduction.htm

Why pop-up books?

Some of you may wonder why I chose to investigate the pop-up book for the Apex 2.4 project for S681.  Some of you may not because you still have a child-like sense of fun and wonder for creativity.

My mother has collected pop-up books over the years, and I have been truly mystified as to how these books were created.  Look at how the Beast jumps out at the reader from the page!

Sabuda, Robert.  (2010)  Beauty & the Beast.  New York, New York: Little Simon.

I'm a fan of comics and graphic novels for the way they bring together art and storytelling.  Pop-up books do the same, on another level as the artists construct their foldable creatures and landscapes.  I look forward to exploring the history of this highly unusual book form!

(Shout out to my mom for allowing me to peruse her collection!  Click on any picture to get the original size.  And forgive any strange skips such as the one seen in the top right corner of the above image...I'm using the Panoramic feature of my iPhone to get the full effect of some of these pop-ups, and very sensitive.  I'm finding out just how shaky my hands are! )