Over the past several weeks, I explored the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Design Museum Library’s collection of illustrated children’s books as part of the Arts Intern program through Studio in a School. During my time in the Library, I have discovered seemingly endless treasures in the children’s book collection, including a vast range of illustrative styles,...
Pop-up book: The Pop-up Pinocchio Originally written as a fairy tale by Carlo Collodi in 1883, the story of Pinocchio comes alive in this colorful pop-up edition created by paper engineer and illustrator Harold Lentz. He illustrated and created several such pop-ups in the 1930s for Blue Ribbon Books and Pleasure Books. Written by Carlo...
Pop-up book: Puss in Boots The adventures of this resourceful and loyal master cat appear in various folktales throughout Europe. The best known is Le Chat Botté, written by Charles Perrault in 1697. Illustrator C. Carey Cloud and paper engineer Harold Lentz collaborated to create this dramatic pop-up edition. Originally written by Charles Perrault (16281703)...
Pop-up book: Cowboys in Pop-up Action Pictures This colorful childrens pop-up book, created primarily for boys, tells the story of the Old West through action-packed scenes of cowboys participating in a rodeo, breaking a wild horse, herding cattle, and riding on the trail. Created by E. Joseph Dreany Published by Publicity Products London, England, 1951...
Mechanical book: What a Surprise This book contains images that dissolve and transform into others to illustrate a series of fairy tales, including Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Ernest Nister, a German printer working in Nuremberg, developed several such movable books in the 1890s. Written by Constance M. Lowe Paper engineering by Ernest Nister Published...
Pop-up book: The Jolly Jump-Ups Journey through Space From the late 1930s through the 1950s, The Jump-Up family appeared in a series of popular books detailing its adventures, which ranged from exploring a new house and neighborhood to crossing America in a trailer. In this story, the family ventures into space, visiting other planets and...
Pop-up book: Popeye with the Hag of the Seven Seas American cartoonist Elzie Crisler Segar developed Thimble Theater, a series featuring Olive Oyl, Caster Oyl, and (later) Popeye, for the New York Journal in 1919. This beautifully illustrated pop-up book is one of several published by Pleasure Books in the 1930s that were inspired by...
Mechanical book: Tony Sargs Treasure Book This colorful movable book contains adaptations of Rip Van Winkle, Treasure Island, and Alices Adventures in Wonderland by Tony Sarg, a German-American craftsman and illustrator best known for creating puppets for the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade in 1928 and the 1933 Chicago Worlds Fair. Created by Tony Sarg (18821942)...
Pop-up book: Dick Tracy: The Capture of Boris Arson The popular comic-strip character Dick Tracy was created by Chester Gould for the Chicago Tribune in 1931. Harold Lentz, the paper engineer for this as well as for several other Blue Ribbon Books and Pleasure Books publications in the 1930s, was a master of beautifully crafted...
