Revision update: Still nothing done. Sigh!
I know I’m a big kid, but I love pop-up books. I have loved them since I was a kid and they still make me giggle with delight whenever I open them. So I was thrilled to see an older video pop up (pardon the pun) on the Wall Street Journal website with an interview with pop-up-book artist Robert Sabuda.
The pop-up books Robert and his team create are wonderful, and I hope they never go away. Due to their intricate nature, pop-up books are made by hand, which, of course, makes them very expensive. In today’s economy, publishers are thinking twice about the money they put into each and every book they produce. I wouldn’t be surprised if pop-up books are a category publishers are shying away from now because of their expense in this uncertain market.
But that would be a shame. Books have an amazing ability to transform readers to other worlds, but nowadays they face stiff competition for kids’ attention from videogames and movies. But pop-up books can give picture books — and their stories — an added excitement and wow factor for youngsters that could encourage their continued love of books of all kinds — pop-up or not — in some kids who might have moved on to more interactive entertainment.
WordPress won’t let me embed Flash videos, so the Wall Street Journal interview is accessible here. (Oohh! That Narnia one looks beautiful.)
Here’s another interview with Sabuda from YouTube:
What do you think of pop-up books? Did you have a favorite as a child?
Write On!
One Response
My family didn’t own any pop-up books when I was a kid, but a little girl down the street had several. She was quite a spoiled little princess and difficult to tolerate, but these beautiful books sweetened my mandatory play dates with her. She was a bit younger than I, so I would read the books to her and make up additional stories to go along with them. I still love pop-ups and just bought one as a Christmas present for an adult friend.