Matthew Reinhart's Blog, page 15

Giveaway: Only 2 Days Left!

There's only 2 days left until we close the Limited Edition giveaway!  Click here to leave your name in the comments to enter!

The giveaway is also open to international addresses as well!  Good luck to you all!



And if the link above doesn't work here it is:

http://popupstudionyc.blogspot.com/20...

Vintage Moveable Review: Pop-up Stripe Books

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Today we are looking at some very rare Italian pop-up activity books. Ever since I was given "Cappuccetto Russo" and "I Tre Porcellini" I have been curious about this series of handmade DIY pop-up books. So I went to the source, the Bologna-based paper engineer, Massimo Missiroli. He was kind enough to provide some background on these books which he started in 1997.

The titles include:

Red Riding Hood (1997) illustrated by Zampiga Milena

Three Little Pigs (1998) illustrated by Silvia Bartoletti

Pinocchio

Nursery Rhymes

Snow White

Hansel & Gretel

Each title has different dimensions and comprise of a number of black and white printed sheets that are sealed in a plastic bag. A rough translation of the promotional material is as follows:

"POP-UP stripe is a new series of cards in which we intend to show operational techniques for the construction of mini-books that will have classic fairy tales as their subject. Build each pop-up book which consists of five pages on a single folded strip of paper."

Massimo came up with the idea while leading pop-up workshops with children. He decided to start his own small publishing company. Then he created and assembled the packets and sold the Pop-up Stripes via mail orders. Around 2002, the Italian publisher Quercetti bought the concept and released new versions of Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Little Pigs and Pinocchio. At that time, Massimo published a wonderful pop-up version of Pinocchio for Emme Edizioni. (We will see more of this title next week.)

I have yet to see any of the Quercetti versions in the flesh so if any of you readers know if they are readily available or have more information please leave a comment. Now, I go back to my collector's dilemma – open my Pop-up Stripe and take pleasure in making my own model or keep it in it's original condition to share with future book lovers.

~Kyle

Whats Popped Up: Foster Talk Online

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The Smithsonian Libraries have recently posted the video of Bruce Foster talking about "The Magic and Math of Harry Potter, The Pop-Up Book" in the Carmichael Auditorium on Tuesday, May 10th, 2011 at the National Museum of American History. If you were not able to make it last month, now is your chance to learn about his pop-up process and get a sneak peek of his upcoming projects.

~Kyle

Artist Watch: Joe Bagley

 I found Joe Bagley's work through Etsy.  And as a fellow artist who works in paper, I am amazed at the detail of his pieces!  Especially since he cuts it all out by hand.  Bagley began cutting paper since the age of 10 and hasn't stopped since.

Check out his blog for videos and step by step photos of his process.  And you can check out his Etsy store for more amazing pieces!

Word of the Day: Neoteric

Neoteric \nee-uh-TER-ik\ adjective

1. Recent in origin; modern; new.

Origin:  Neoteric derives from Greek neoterikos, from neoteros "younger", comparative of neos "young, new."

Word of the Day: Deus Ex Machina

Deus Ex Machina \DAY-uhs-eks-MAH-kuh-nuh\ noun

1.  In ancient Greek and Roman drama, a god introduced by means of a crane to unravel and resolve the plot.


2. Any active agent who appears unexpectedly to solve an apparently insoluble difficulty.

Orign:  Deus ex machina is New Latin for "god from the machine"; it is a translation of the Greek theos ek mekhanes.

 

Weekly Beast- Mycena Luxaeterna

Mycena Luxaeterna may not be an actual beast, but I had to share with all of you these glowing mushrooms that were discovered in Brazil.  These mushrooms are very small, and San Francisco State University's Dennis Desjardin put it perfectly, "when you look down at the ground, it's like looking up at the sky... Every little 'star' was a little mushroom..."

How amazing would that be to see glowing mushrooms in the rain forest?

Word of the Day: Alacrity

Alacrity \uh-LACK-ruh-tee\ noun

1.  A cheerful or eager readiness or willingness, often manifested by brisk, lively action or promptness in response.

Word of the Day: Quidnunc

Quidnunc \KWID-nuhngk\ noun

1. One who is curious to know everything that passes; one who knows or pretends to know all that is going on; a gossip; a busybody.

Origin: Quidnunc comes from Latin quid nunc?, "what now?"

Vintage Movable Review: Max's Machines

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I remember years ago at a Movable Book Society conference where I was checking out amazing pop-up books on dealer's tables and an older collector ambled by and whispered, 'If you think that is good, you should check out Max's Machines, it's the best pop-up book ever.' Hyperbole or not, when someone hints about a great pop-up then I quickly look into it. Turns out the book costs a few quid so it took awhile for me to get my grubby mitts on a copy. It was worth it.

Max's Machines was created by Willy Bullock in 1999 for Scholastic in the U.K, and right there on the cover boasts 'the best pop-up book – ever'. (Seems like British paper engineers were always trying to one up each other since Richard Scarry released this book a year earlier.) Bullock creates three giant pop-ups in this five spread oversized book. First up is an intricate racecar that is lifted high above the page with the pull of a tab. Next is a giant dump truck that tips its load of dirt at the yank of a lever. And for the finale, our hapless hero Max is ejected from his supersonic jet when the tab is pulled.

Nowadays, Tim "Willy" Bullock has turned his attention to creating clever and complicated paper automata. He recently released his fun 'Rude Moose' kit which can be found on his cool4cats website. I can't wait to see what is next.

~Kyle