BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — Pop up books aren’t just for kids. They are actually an important part of American literary history and culture — at least that’s the idea behind a new exhibit at Florida Atlantic University.
Read on for the details:
The Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts at Florida Atlantic University
currently is hosting an exhibition titled “POP! Movable Books from the Arthur J. Williams Pop-Up Collection,” through Sunday, August 12 at the WimberlyLibrary, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. The exhibition features wildly colorful andinteractive books that open to elements that pop up, slide and twirl.
The books, showcased on three floors in the library, are from some of the leading authors, illustrators and paper engineers from around the world. One book, “Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy,” received literary praise for its elaborate pop ups and imagery from The New York Times and other publications after its 2007 release. Bestselling pop-up artist Matthew Reinhartcreated the book for the 30th anniversary of George Lucas’ epic “Star Wars” movies. Among the book’s features are pop ups, working light sabers and pull tabs.
Blue Ribbon Books’ 1932 edition of “Pinocchio,” which is based on the fictional character in the 1883 children’s novel, is the exhibition’s oldest book. Harold Lentz, a famous artist, illustrated the book with many black and white illustrations and four brilliantly–colored pop ups, all showing Pinocchio in trouble. The exhibition also features pop–up adaptations of such classics as “Alice in Wonderland,” “Moby Dick,” “Peter Pan,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “Winnie-the-Pooh,” “Robin Hood” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
“Pop-up books are most people’s first experience with books that behave differently from most books, so I think they inspire many to explore the book arts further,
” said John Cutrone, the Jaffe Center’s director. “These books are just plain fun, and fun is a great motivator to learning.”
The Jaffe Center curated the exhibition from the collection of 425 pop-up books that Williams, a retired film editor, donated to FAU Libraries in 2011. It was passion at first sight for Williams, who began collecting the books in the mid-1970s, and also collects ceramics,paintings, sculptures and photographs.
The pop-up collection dramatically expands the Jaffe Center’s offering of books that have paper engineering at their core, yet covers all manner of topics to interest majors from across the FAU curriculum,” said Cutrone. “The collection will most likely generate the greatest interest from visual arts majors and from education majors, and will be very useful in public programming. The collection as a whole is an engaging one made up of books that are particularly popular with lecture audiences and exhibitions.”
The exhibition is free and open to the public. Viewing is during regular library hours. For information on library hours, call 561-297-3770 or visitwww.library.fau.edu/geninfo/hours.htm. For more information on the exhibition, contact John Cutrone at 561–297-0455 or jcutrone@fau.edu.
