Engineering for Children

I had fallen behind on my Just One More Book podcasts recently so I sat down this week and caught up. One of the interviews caught my attention not because it discussed on particular book or one author but because it really discussed the workings of an industry. The podcast was with David A. Carter who is a paper engineer. Never heard the term before, don't be surprised. It was new to me too. But then I found out one of the jobs that a paper engineer can do and now I want to learn more. Carter designs pop-up books!

I loved pop-up books as a child. There was something about the intricate nature and the mechanics of the books that fascinated me. I loved the movements and the way things popped off the page. And I loved the fact that the books were interactive. Close the book and the image goes away, open the book and it comes right towards you. When I got older I decided that pop-up books were for kids and stopped looking at them. I was too old for that type of things. That is until I saw Sabuda and Reinhart's Dinosaur books.

These were not just books, these were works of art. The intricate paper sculptures in this book are much more advanced than the simpler pull tab or one movement books I remembered as a child. Each page was a small work of art. And I returned to pop-up books with a serious fascination. Carter's interview reminded me of what I had loved about the books in the first place. I wanted to figure out how to make them. And luckily enough Carter himself provides the answer. He has produced a book called Elements of Pop-Up which shows people how to do each of the simpler folds used to make pop-ups. I had been wondering what to buy with my Amazon gift card that I got for Christmas. Now I know. I'm so excited to buy this book and try these out.

Plus he gave me another great idea of something to buy. He mentions one of his heros was Jan Pienkowski who was one of my first introductions to pop-ups. Pienkowski's books are intricate (although not to a Sabuda level) but their appeal is in their fun. He uses color and mood in ways that a lot of pop-up books do not. This is not just a pop-up book done for the thrill of showing off technical skill, it is a story. His Haunted House was and still is one of my favorite pop-up books because it combines paper skill and mood. I have to pick up a copy of that, since my childhood edition was a little too well loved along with his Little Monsters book. (When I mentioned Pienkowski to my little sister this week, she mentioned she had just bought one of his books for a friend's child. Just goes to show that even older classics don't lose their appeal.)

On another note while looking for pictures I stumbled across this Neiman Marcus catalog which was done as a pop-up book. I guess people are starting to realize that pop-ups aren't just for kids anymore.