Matthew Reinhart's Blog, page 19

Whats Popped Up: Adie Pena Visits

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A surprise guest dropped by the studio last Friday after a long delayed flight from Manila, Philippines. Pop-up collector and advertising guru, Adie Pena was in New York for one of his biennial visits to the States. It had been years since we last met at the Movable Book Society conference in Washington D.C. and I was eager to hear what Adie has been up to. It looks like he is busier than ever as teaching three advertising courses at the De La Salle -College of Saint Benilde, as well as helping with a local theater production that involves a dress that unfolds over the entire stage as figures appear like pop-up elements.

Adie has been collecting pop-up books and movable advertising for over 18 years and is known as one tough critic of paper engineering but we were able to get a some smiles out of him with a few sneak peeks of our upcoming projects like Puppies and Rescue. We hope that he enjoyed the city during the wonderful weather this weekend and his return flight was smooth enough for him to concentrate on his other passion, anagrams.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Benthic

Benthic \BEN-thik\ adjective

1.  Of or relating to the bottom of a sea or lake.
2.  The animals and plants living at the bottom of a sea or lake.

Origin: From Greek benthos ''depth of the sea"

Listen Up: Al Green

I am not much of an Anglophile but in honor today's royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, here is a classic soul song from the Rev. Al Green. Since British protocol prevents me from sending this out to Prince William and Princess Catherine I am forced to use their other newly minted titles, so this one goes out to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Count and Countess of Strathern and the Baron and Baroness Carrickfergus.

~Kyle

Word of the Day: Caesura

Caesura \sih-ZHUR-uh; -ZUR-\ noun

1.  A break or pause in a line of verse, usually occurring in the middle of a line, and indicated in scanning by a double vertical line, ||

2.  Any break, pause, or interruption.

Origin: Caesura comes from Latin caesura, " a cutting off, a division, a stop," from the past participle of caedere, "to cut".

Vintage Movable Review: Paddy Finds a Job

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Recently a friend was moving and was confronted with too many boxes of books. This is something that I have come across many times as I shoehorn my modest collection of pop-ups into tiny New York apartments. @font-face { font-family: "Cambria"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } In an attempt to lighten her load she offered some lovely movable titles that had belonged to her grandmother, a children's literature professor. I was grateful for the kind gesture and excited to come across a pop-up book that was new to me. Paddy finds a job is a pop-up story created by the late John S. Goodall in 1981. The book has an Athenuem imprint logo and was printed by Intervisual with paper engineering credit going to the great Tor Lokvig.

This is a six spread wordless book that tells the tale of the disastrous employment Paddy Pork who was first introduced in 1968. The folks at Intervisual stay true to Mr. Goodall's vision and even employ the artist's knack for using half pages to progress the action in the story. It is a charming book with subtle and efficient pop-ups but I can't help but get hung up on a few small details. When you anthropomorphize animals, it helps to be consistent. Why is Paddy Pork the only figure that is pantless? And why is there a pet cat alongside larger feline diners? Those weaned on Disney characters like Donald Duck and the Goofy/Pluto conundrum can readily dismiss these observations but viewers still have to wonder why Paddy continues to charge out of the restaurant after tripping over the boa of the prominent poodle. I guess we learn that nothing good comes when you put swine before pearls and vice versa.

~Kyle

Last Days to Vote!

If you haven't already voted, today and tomorrow are the last days to cast your vote for Matthew and Robert's 'Encyclopedia Mythologica: Gods and Heroes' in the Children's Choice Book Awards.  I've heard the voting is extremely close, so why not help us out and tell your friends to vote!

The voting is open until April 29th, 2011.  You can click the link here or below to cast your own vote:

History Lesson: John James Audubon

On April 26, 1785 John James Audubon was born in Les Cayes in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti).  Audubon paved the road for future ornithologists with his amazing art pieces of North American birds.  He would usually portray the birds in motion, as if he had caught them in a moment of feeding or hunting.

Word of the Day: Gastronome

Gastonome \GAS-truh-nohm\ noun

1. A connoisseur of good food and drink.

Origin: Gastronme is ultimately derived from Greek gaster, "stomach" and nomos "rule, law".

Artist Watch: Oliver Jeffers

Oliver Jeffers was brought up in Northern Ireland and now lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, where he recently co-founded the product design company You And Me.
Jeffers work takes many forms, from figurative painting and installation to illustration and picture-book making.
Go and check more about him on his website.



 ~Gio

Weekly Beast: Yeti Crab

The Yeti crab or Kiwa hirsuta was found in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean a mile and a half below the water's surface.  The Yeti crabs have silky blonde setae (that looks like fur) covering it's legs and claws.  Scientists have found that the setae contain bacteria that help the crab live near toxic thermal vents.  The crabs are roughly 6 inches long and are though to be blind.  Scientists actually crated a new biological family because of the Yeti crab.