QZ qz thoughts
a blog from Eli the Bearded

Robert Sabuda 's Alice's Advetures in Wonderland


One of the finest pop-up books I've ever seen, this Alice has dramatic popups on the main pages, and books within the book with smaller effects. The text is fairly abridged, don't get this and expect all the details of Carroll's story. The illustrations are not the same as Tenniel's, but clearly show his influence. The delicate engineering needed for the elaborate effects leads me to considerate a book for adults, and recommend careful supervision of children who want to look at it.

Commerce Link

J Otto Seibold's Alice in Wonderland


This is not quite as impressive, to me, as Sabuda's Alice, but definately far above the average pop-up fair. Seibold has taken scenes from Carroll's story and illustrated them in his own style rather than the traditional John Tenniel style. But there is nothing sacrosanct with the original pictures and Seibold's distinct style suits Carroll's absurd situations well.

Commerce Link

The Elements of Pop-Up


This book for "aspiring paper engineers" provides an encyclopedia of pop-up effects each with explanation of how it works. The more complicated effects which benefit from a model that can be disassembled are not glued shut allowing the reader to open them up to reveal the inner workings. The opening page has a very dramatic monster which serves to illustrate many of the techniques combined for a single creation. The ending page gives an overview of the steps to publish a pop-up book.

I've found this helpful in designing pop-up cards, which I make as one-offs.

Commerce Link