In this review, we take a closer look at Robert Sabuda’s pop-up classic Beauty & the Beast: A Pop-Up Adaptation. The work of Paper Engineer Robert Sabuda needs no introduction to pop-up book collectors. Sabuda, who won the 1998 Meggendorfer Prize with his pop-up debut The Christmas Alphabet, also created the most beautiful fairytale pop-up books like Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, The Little Mermaid and one of our favorites, Beauty & the Beast.

Artwork

The artwork that contains black outlines and colorful cut-outs reminds us of stained glass, that fits the theme of this love story perfectly. Vivid watercolors decorate and brighten every scene. The decors are stunning and the colors of the beast work beautifully in combination with the strong black outlines. This Sabuda heavyweight champion is one of our favorites because of the complex engineering and also because of it’s beautiful and magical artwork.

Paper engineering

Beauty and the Beast is a big one! It counts five main spreads and lots of mini booklets. The first spread also contains a nice surprise. Three harmonica tunnel pop-ups with scene’s from inside the Beast’s castle. If you pay close attention to the details, you can see the tail of the beast moving from left to right through the house. It’s a brilliant way of telling a story in movement and animation. Most tunnel pop-ups are static and have scenes build up in layers so this is a real treat if you like these kind of details.

The second spread houses the head of the Beast. It’s very impressive to witness it opening up in real life! There’s a lot going on like the horns that fold out in a spectacular upward movement. Meanwhile, his eyelids open up wide and his mouth reveals his sharp teeth. All of this happens in a beautiful composition of fur and it all comes together as the Beast’s head. This is one of those pop-ups that make you wonder how it all fits into a spread when you close it.

All spreads are beautiful and interesting in a different way. In the garden scene, there are pilars that rotate and land into a perfect formation and the last spread looks like the decor of a theater. This pop-up book is really packed and together with all the mini booklets, that also contain wonderful pop-ups, it’s easy to say that this belongs on the shelve of every pop-up book collector. This book is literally a beauty and a beast!

Order at Amazon: Beauty & the Beast: A Pop-Up Adaptation

Author: Robert Sabuda
Published by Little Simon

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More pop-up books by Robert Sabuda

Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King, created by Iranian award-winning artist and filmmaker Hamid Rahmanian and Meggendorfer Prize-winning Paper Engineer Simon Arizpe, is an impressive pop-up book like you’ve never seen before. It retells the Persian tale of Prince Zahhak who was easily convinced by the devil (Angra Mainyu) to murder his father King Merdas and take over the throne. Zahhak, meaning ‘he who has 10000 horses’, would rule the kingdom with his army for a violent and bloodthirsty 1000 years.

The Emergence of Snakes

The evil spirit, disguised as a cook, fed Zahhak with blood and the flesh of animals and one day Ahriman merely asked to kiss Zahhak on his two shoulders, which he agreed. Then Ahriman touched Zahhak’s shoulders with his lips and vanished. At once, two black snakes grew out of Zahhak’s shoulders. They could not be removed, for as soon as one snake-head had been cut off another took its place.

Source: welcometoiran.com

Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King is Hamid Rahmanian’s illustrated adaptation and one of the many tellings from Hamid’s masterpiece Shahnameh: The Epic of the Persian Kings, a book that counts an impressive 592 illustrated pages of digitally composed artwork collages. Shahnameh, also known as “The Book of Kings”, is a 1000 years old epic poem written by Abolqasem Ferdowsi, one of Persia’s greatest poets. Shahnameh, part historical and part mythical, is the world’s longest epic poem written by a single poet. Hamid Rahmanian took the effort to create an illustrated version of Shahnameh, which took him 10.000 hours of research to collect over 8000 pieces from miniatures of Persian manuscripts and lithographs from different eras. He and his team digitally cut-out all the pieces to combine spectacular collages that are composed into impressive scenes that tell the stories of Shahnameh. Some of the collages contain artwork combined from 33 manuscripts and Hamid managed to preserve the authentic look and feel by carefully selecting art that suits the stories very well.

“For the first time ever, a tale from the Persian Book of Kings springs to life in this stunningly produced and ingeniously crafted pop-up book.”

One day, Hamid Rahmanian visited a conference about Shahnameh in Toronto. To his disappointment, it was long and mostly boring. So he got inspired to create his own telling, using the rich culture of Persian art. He wanted to create something interesting for a more broader and younger audience. Something that would connect with an audience that already loves stories like Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings. Hamid saw that potential in Shahnameh and started collecting over a hundred books with historical Persian artwork. Hamid decided to not create his own artwork and took the effort to assemble collages of cut-outs, only using original Persian school artwork from the books he gathered.

Artwork

The collages, that are digitally created by stacking cut-out elements as layers, formed a perfect base to create a pop-up book. By using pop-ups with multiple layers, the collages aren’t flat anymore and reveal what’s hidden behind the overlapping elements. This makes it even more interesting to see how the scenes are built and what elements are used to tell the story. It’s the perfect medium for this kind of artwork that has many secrets hidden behind each layer.

Paper Engineering

The paper engineering by Simon Arizpe is really impressive and full of surprises. It’s amazing to see how everything fits inside this packed book. Some of the giant pop-up scenes also reveal mini booklets with the most beautiful details. There’s also a lot of animation and rotation going on. One of our favorites is Feraydun on his horse in Zahhak’s dream. It stands up and rotates with a two-way mechanism that also points towards Zahhak who peeks back with an eye that opens right on time. The engineering of Zahhak is subtle and impressive. It respects the artwork and adds extra depth and animation to the endless layers and pieces.

We had the opportunity to ask Simon Arizpe some questions about Zahhak and his work as a Paper Engineer. Click here to read the interview!

Order at Amazon: Zahhak: The Legend Of The Serpent King

Concept, art & design by Hamid Rahmanian
Paper engineering by Simon Arizpe
Text by Ahmad Sadri & Melissa Hibbard
Published by Fantagraphics Books

Useful links and resources:

fictionvillestudio.com
simonarizpe.com
kingorama.com

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In this review, we take a closer look at the latest pop-up book created and written by Shawn Sheehy titled Beyond the Sixth Extinction. It’s a gigantic book with eight pop-up spreads and many pages that contain beautiful artwork created by Jordi Solano. This 3.2 pounds book is a real heavyweight champion! And not just literally speaking. The subject this book is about, looking beyond the next global mass extinction, isn’t a bedtime story for kids. Categorized as Science Fiction, Beyond the Sixth Extinction is a very interesting read that makes you wonder and fear whether this dark and morbid future could ever become a reality?

“Take a long step forward into the year 4847 with the help of stunning pop-ups portraying eight fantastical creatures.”

Beyond the what?

In case you didn’t know, the Earth has already witnessed five global mass extinctions. The best-known cause for one of these is the impact of an asteroid that killed all dinosaurs on earth during extinction number five. The most destructive one, extinction number three, is named “End Permian” and happened 251 million years ago. During that event, earth lost 96% of all its species because of a cataclysmic eruption near Siberia that blasted a deadly amount of CO2 into the atmosphere. The oldest surviving relative on Earth is “the living fossil” Nautilus that goes back almost all the way to the birth of complex life, 600 million years ago. It somehow survived all extinctions and now some people fear that for many reasons, humanity will end its existence. Even this persevering creature is in danger because of the sudden rise of humanity and its industry. And here comes the bad news, humanity will most certainly be the cause of the upcoming sixth extinction that is already happening right now…

The subject of this book, Beyond the Sixth Extinction, is all about which animals will survive this sixth extinction event and how they will evolve into a species that can live in this futuristic and toxic human environment. We travel to the year 4847 and will see a glimpse of what evolution will do to eight of these survivors.

Artwork

The artwork created by Jordi Solano is breathtaking. This book is packed with detailed illustrations that are realistic and also bit dark with a fantasy twist. It reminds us of those illustrations that you used to see on classic biology class posters. It’s a perfect style that fits this subject really well! The so-called Rotrap (merging of roach and trap) is one of our favorites. This creature, that looks like a mutated rat, lives on the walls and ceilings of nuclear reaction chambers. Rotrap looks like it’s straight from a horror movie and makes rats like we know them today, look like cute little animals. Below: a gallery with some artwork highlights of the creatures in this book.

Paper Engineering

The paper engineering in Beyond the Sixth Extinction is surprisingly solid. All eight pop-up spreads look mechanical and organic at the same time and fold in-and-out with ease. It’s a book full of complex and mostly a-symmetrical compositions that display the creatures as paper sculptures. Our first introduction of Shawn’s work as a Paper Engineer was his first trade pop-up book Welcome to the Neighborwood. The look-and-feel of this book is mostly the same and has that typical crafting style that gives you the impression that the pop-ups are made out of layers colored paper instead of printed paper.

All of my artists books are created in cut paper, and I brought that style over to the trade books. It’s one of the reasons (I am told) that Candlewick got interested in my work. – Shawn Sheehy

Storytelling

Shawn did all the writing and really got into detail. The story starts with an optimistic report by Biologist and Chief Scientist Willek Muriday who writes about the discovery of a number of new species found in the Southwest of Lake Mishkin. It immediately sets the tone of this post-apocalyptic world in the year 4847. The story continues explaining all six extinctions and on the next page, before you know it, you’re looking at a true size 30 cm long Rex Roach pop-up. The flap on the right page of the pop-up spread reveals specific information like the creatures diet, size, habitat, lifespan, bioremediation, interspecies relationships and more. The next page continues to tell more about the creature and its history. In the end, there’s a detailed and beautifully illustrated Ecosystem about the Cago district that connects all species and maps their ecological relationships. You can tell by the way how detailed this scenario is written, that Shawn went really deep into the subject and philosophy about how these creatures evolved into survivors of the “new World”.

Beyond The Sixth Extinction is a real luxury book and eyecatcher about a fascinating subject that combines biology and science fiction. One of the biggest and most heavy pop-up titles in our collection! It is already available for pre-order at Amazon and will be released on October 9th.

We also had the opportunity to interview Shawn and ask him about his work and what inspired him to create this pop-up book. Read the interview…

Order at Amazon: Beyond the Sixth Extinction: A Post-Apocalyptic Pop-Up

Author: Shawn Sheehy
Illustrated by Jordi Solano
Published by Candlewick Studio

We finally got our hands on the brand new Necronomicon Pop-Up Book, created by Skinner and Rosston Meyer. In this review we will take a closer look at this unique combination of H. P. Lovecraft’s stories and the Art of Skinner. The Necronomicon Pop-Up Book is the most recent artbook project published by Poposition Press and it comes in two editions: The Earth Dweller Edition and The Elder God Edition. The last one contains gold and silver highlights on the cover, a custom laser etched acrylic slipcase and a signed art print by Skinner himself. You’ll find links to both editions at the bottom of this page. For this video review, we’ve captured the Elder God edition. At the end of the video you’ll also get a glimpse of the goodies that are available like the glow in the dark pins and art prints signed by Skinner.

In this review we are going to take a closer look at a brand new pop-up book titled: This Book is a Planetarium. Yes, this pop-up book is a planetarium but it’s also so much more! Paper Engineer Kelli Anderson, who also created the pop-up This Book is a Camera in 2015, now takes the concept of pop-ups with real functionality to a whole new level. The result is a surprising and beautiful book with stylish pop-ups that all have different functions like a musical instrument with strings, a spiralgraph, a decoder ring, a perpetual calendar and  a speaker that amplifies the sound of your smartphone. And last but not least, a beautiful pop-up planetarium that projects stars and constellations to the ceiling!

“What can paper do?”

What can paper do? That’s an interesting concept when you think about it. With pop-ups, it’s possible to create constructions that not only fit in a book but also use their shapes to amplify sound or mechanisms that make it possible to reveal hidden secrets like stars and encrypted messages. It’s all in this book! Kelli Anderson managed to design five solid pop-up spreads that really function as a speaker or instrument.

Paper Engineering

The paper engineering in this book is much more than just some basic pop-ups. The pop-ups are made out of very strong paper that locks everything in its place when you open up a spread. Everything pops in-and-out perfectly. The paper engineering by Kelly Anderson, with additional help from Kyle Olmon and Daniel Dunnam, just feels right. The smart designs of the pop-ups are mostly minimalistic and create that extra artistic crafting look we love. It’s a fun mix of materials and smart solutions combined with clever engineering. Another detail that is worth mentioning are the heavy wheels that are part of the Spiralgraph page. The wheels are laser cut and roll like paper gears, very satisfying…

Kelli’s work puts forth the idea that lo-fi, handheld experiences can serve as compelling challenges to our misconceptions about how the larger world works. Her first book, a functional pop-up camera titled, “This Book is a Camera,” was published by the Museum of Modern Art last year. Her paper record player invitation, her TEDx talk, and her work on Tinybop’s “The Human Body” were all widely-beloved for showcasing the “magic” and possibility hiding in plain view. –  Source: Amazon Bio Kelli Anderson

Artwork

This Book is a Planetarium is designed in the same minimalistic and colorful style as Kelli’s previous pop-up title: This Book is a Camera. Every pop-up in this book has its own functionality but also a unique palette of colors that create a different theme for every spread. It’s a small art gallery in a book! Decorated with fresh typography and abstract shapes, every page grabs your attention right away and invites you to give it a try. All spreads contain brief instructions about how to use it and information about Why it works this way.

Order at Amazon: This Book Is a Planetarium

Design and Paper engineering: Kelli Anderson
Additional help: Kyle David Olmon & Daniel Dunnam
Published by: Chronicle Books

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More Pop-up Art books

To celebrate the arrival of autumn we are going to take a closer look at the brand new pop-up title Leaves: An Autumn Pop-Up Book. A beautiful pop-up book that is all about the season of colors. Leaves is the very first published pop-up book created by Paper Engineer Yoojin Kim, published by Jumping Jack Press. We did an interview with Yoojin Kim about her work and the creation of Leaves that you can read here.

“A leaf seems simple. But leaves do many things.”

Just like the Snowflakes Pop-Up Book, this book also contains lots of fun facts about leaves. Believe it or not but there aren’t that many pop-up books about autumn. Leaves proves that autumn is a perfect subject to make a colorful pop-up book about. It takes you on an instructive journey trough nature at its best. When autumn arrives, nature goes trough a transformation and trees turn into colorful palettes of warm colors. In Leaves you’ll find trees, lots of mushrooms and also meet the cutest little animals that take advantage of all the benefits that leaves have to offer. The wonderful artwork created by Lindsay Dale-Scott and the well-engineered pop-ups work great together and make this book a season title that is unique of its kind.

Paper engineering

Yoojin Kim did an amazing job creating pop-ups that work and feel solid but also look complex at the same time. Everything works like it should and the variation of used techniques make this an enjoyable pop-up book for anyone who’s interested in pop-ups. The movables and lift-the-flap-leaves are fun and interactive. Together with that, all pop-ups contribute to a rich and dimensional presentation of every scene and animate beautifully! It’s smart engineering combined with creative solutions that just work.

Artwork

The illustrated cover of Leaves (that is printed with golden details) makes you wonder what’s inside and you will not be disappointed. The artwork, created by Lindsay Dale-Scott, is stunning! The first thing that you’ll notice when you look at Leaves are the bright and warm colors. The illustrations are basic but have that “arty look” that makes it extra enjoyable to read, even for a grown-up. The solid paper and matte finish of the prints add extra quality to the overall look and feel of Leaves. Lindsay managed to capture autumn in both beautiful colors and artwork that give this book a strong and delightful theme.

Storytelling

This pop-up book is packed with a lot of interesting facts about leaves but you’ll have to look for those facts because they are all hidden behind lift-the-flap leaves. The flaps are subtile and merge perfectly together with the pop-ups and the artwork. Janet Lawler, who wrote the text for Leaves, tells about animals that use leaves for protection and how leaves affect their environment in a good way. A fun read that gives a new perspective about how useful and important leaves are for nature and animals.

Order at Amazon: Leaves: An Autumn Pop-Up Book

Paper engineering by Yoojin Kim

Written by Janet Lawler
Illustrated by Lindsay Dale-Scott
Published by Jumping Jack Press

Interview

We had the opportunity to ask Yoojin some questions about this book, a new project and her work as a Paper Engineer. Click here to go to the interview!

For more information about the work of Yoojin you can visit her website and portfolio: yoojinkim.com

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More pop-up books published by Jumping Jack Press

In this review we are going to take a closer look at a very special and unique pop-up book titled Circus Zingaro – A Pop-Up Book. You may have noticed that we totally support independent (Indie) projects by Paper Engineers. In this case we would like to say “Indie publisher” but unfortunately it haven’t gotten that far yet for this book. German Paper Engineer Tina Kraus, who engineered and illustrated Circus Zingaro, once started it as a project for her final exam. In the years that followed, Tina improved the book and finally shared a video of the finished project. Or should we say product?

When we started BestPopUpBooks as a website and YouTube channel, Circus Zingaro was one of the first videos on YouTube that grabbed our attention. It popped-up next to our videos as a recommendation and after seeing the video, we got all exited about the idea of making our own video review about this beautiful piece of art and paper engineering. Tina was so kind to send us the one-and-only copy of her creation so we could capture it for our channel. Little did we know that the video we wanted to make would become the longest of all videos on our YouTube channel!

I started to create this Pop-Up Book during my Design and Illustration studies for my final exam and finished it with some changes a few years later. I don’t have a publisher for the book yet, so it is not available to buy at the moment. If you are a publisher and you are interested in publishing ‘Circus Zingaro’, please contact me. Tina Kraus

So you could say that Circus Zingaro is a pop-up book with two stories. Before we dive into the main story, that is about a homeless girl that wants to join a mysterious traveling circus, we would like to focus on the “second story”. The story about how this book gathered a fanbase without being published and why it became a very popular pin on Pinterest and one of YouTube’s firsts pop-up book video with lots of views, likes and comments.

Wanted: A pop-up book publisher…

We have already seen some successful pop-up book indie publications like TRIAD, What a Mess! and The Pop-Up Art Book. Being an indie publisher demands a lot of dedication. It’s a fulltime job to arrange production, marketing, PR, shipping and aftersales. What most people don’t realize is how much work and time it takes to do all this by yourself. Although websites like Kickstarter make life a lot easier by providing a crowdfunding platform for Indie publishers, it’s still a lot of work to reach your goal and get things going to make a published pop-up book reality. That’s where most Paper Engineers get stuck and a pop-up publisher comes in handy. On the other side, pop-up book publishers are hard to find. The process of manufacturing a pop-up book is time consuming, complex and very expensive. That is why pop-up book publishers are strict when it comes to selecting a book to publish. How expensive is it make a complex pop-up book with a lot of glue points and movable mechanisms? Is there an audience out there for this kind of product and are they willing to buy it once it’s published?

Easy for us to say that this books NEEDS to be published but it’s true. We already got e-mails by fans of this book who requested a review. Also, when a pop-up book gets shared over the internet by a lot of people, you could say that there is an audience out there. All you need to do is look for “circus pop-up book” on Pinterest or read the comments of Tina’s video’s on YouTube. We’re just amazed that a pop-up book with so much attention hasn’t got published already. For what it’s worth, you could join us on a mission to spread the word about Circus Zingaro and share it as much as possible. Who knows what happens next…

Storytelling

Circus Zingaro (Zingaro is Italian for Gypsy) tells the story about a curious and brave homeless girl that wants to join a traveling circus. The story begins with an illustration of the girl looking at the a poster that invites her to visit Circus Zingaro. The start of a journey trough a magical world of pop-ups and circus acts. It’s in the middle of the night and she’s wandering trough the circus terrain as the only visitor. She introduces herself to “the Ringmaster” but he dismisses her and doesn’t take her seriously as a candidate to work in the circus. Instead of offering the girl a job, he gives her a tour and shows all the extraordinary and wonderful freaks and geeks. The Ringmaster tries to convince her that she doesn’t fit in but she has a special talent he doesn’t know about yet…

Paper engineering

The paper engineering in this book is a fun combination of both movables and pop-ups. The interaction with the movables creates almost a real circus with tricks and effects. And the fun part is that you’re in control! All pop-up’s are solid and sometime create complete stages with 3D objects and working acts. There’s real tightrope walking, magical disappearances, belly dancing, knife throwing and so much more. The pop-ups and movables are a tasty blend of classic and new-school paper engineering. All pop-up spreads work great, create a lot of depth and pop-up in all directions. The way the belly dancer moves is organic and hypnotic. The Snake Lady that is hidden in a box is a perfect example of how to re-use an old technique in a very original way. Minuscule split pins and rivets, that are used to make most of the mechanics rotate, work solid and smooth. It makes you wonder what is happening inside the pages to make such movement possible? There’s also a fold-out scene that gives you an insight look in one of the gypsy wagons, which is huge and folds out as a fully furnished caravan. It’s all in this book!

Artwork

Tina, who also is an illustrator, did all the artwork for this book herself. Except for the first page, there’s no text at all in this book to tell the story. The illustrations do all the work and are so detailed and atmospheric that you get sucked right into the story. A story that looks and feels like a classic fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen. The vivid artwork is mostly watercolored and shows a rough canvas texture beneath what gives that extra artistic look. The illustration style is friendly and inviting, just like the characters in this book. It’s also a bit dark and edgy but that makes a perfect mix of styles to create this colorful mysterious world of circus freaks, geeks and magic.

Interview

We had the opportunity to ask Tina some questions about this book, a new project and her work as a Paper Engineer. Click here to go to the interview!

For more information about the work of Tina you can visit her website and portfolio: faltmanufaktur.com.

Paper engineering: Tina Kraus
Design & illustration: Tina Kraus

Paper Blossoms for All Seasons is a beautiful pop-up book with four spreads that you can also display as a paper bouquet. The excellent paper engineering of Ray Marshall combined with the beautiful and rich artwork by Kayla Ferriera make this brand new pop-up title a true eye catcher and must-have for any pop-up book collector. Paper Blossoms for All Seasons is now available at Amazon!

This collection of pop-up paper bouquets from the creator of the bestselling Paper Blossoms celebrates the beauty of the four seasons. Each breathtaking arrangement—spring daffodils, summer sunflowers, autumn foliage, and a winter wreath—makes a distinctive centerpiece and brings surprise to any décor. Chronicle Books

Ray Marshall, also known for his award winning Paper Blossoms pop-up book, shows again that flowers are a beautiful subject for a pop-up book. There’s a pop-up spread of flowers for every season and the last pop-up, the most beautiful Christmas pop-up wreath we’ve ever seen, is very detailed and builds up in a circular shape with holly leaves that wrap around the wreath. The pop-ups can be viewed from all angles and thanks to the handy elastic bands that are attached to the cover, you can display the pop-ups fully opened on a table like a real bouquet.

Paper engineering

Even though it is very difficult to create organic shapes and bouquets out of mostly symmetrical pop-up mechanics, Ray managed to create elegant and realistic flower compositions that really bloom. Pop-ups like these are beautiful to open up slowly. After opening a spread, it’s like you’re in control of a time lapse of growing paper flowers. The animation techniques that are used to build up the bouquets, contribute to a more realistic feeling of blooming flowers. With clever and solid pop-up solutions, mostly hidden inside the base of the flower stems, leaves open up in a natural way and make you believe that your watching something that really comes to live. Despite the complex techniques that are used, all pop-ups are solid, work smooth and fold back in flat and tight.

Artwork

The colorful artwork, created by Kayla Ferriera, is a perfectly balanced illustration style between realistic and artistic. Subtile patterns, rough brush strokes and harmonious colors give this pop-up book that typical craft look without making the flowers look less realistic. Especially the autumn bouquet stands out because of it’s color palette that is bright and warm. Every spread has its own theme and color palette that create the perfect ambiance for every season.

A unique gift for any occasion, Paper Blossoms for All Seasons delights with color, joy, and beauty throughout the year.

Paper engineering: Ray Marshall
Design & illustration: Kayla Ferriera
Published by Chronicle Books

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More Paper Blossoms pop-ups by Ray Marshall