Pop-up Books!: 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: