Pop-Up books are a part of the broader category of Moveable Books, which are physically interactive with the reader. In this Flyleaf we'll look at a few of the Pop-Ups published for children.

 

First some history: the mechanics needed for developing pop-up books were in place long before they became popularly employed for books designed for children. In the very early 19th century the first books for children using pop-up mechanics were published in Britain and Germany and produced by Ernest Nister and Lothar Meggendorfer. They were expensive to produce and were not published in great numbers.

A giant advance in the production of children's pop-up books came when Louis Giraud produced them in Britain for the Daily Express in 1929. He then went on to publish as Strand Publications and Bookano Stories. These were the first books in which the popped-up image could be viewed from all four sides. Because they were made with inexpensive color printing, paper, and bindings they were able to reach a larger audience than those in the past.

In the United States around this time Blue Ribbon Publishing produced pop-up books of fairy tales, and featuring Walt Disney characters. They were the first to employ the term Pop-Up. In 1939 McLoughlin Brothers introduced the Jolly Jump-Up books. After this many publishers entered the popular market. Today Pop-Ups are still hand-produced and amazingly complex.

 

For further reading I suggest Ann Montanaro's book, Pop-Up and Movable Books. Scarecrow Press. 1993. There was also a supplement published in 2000.

 

The Movable Book Society can be found at http://www.movablebooksociety.org/ 

Our guest editor for August: 

Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc.
Gloucester City, New Jersey  

www.betweenthecovers.com