Movable Books

 

Movable books -- science at work and play

by Gillian O'Reilly

The term "movable books" (including lift-the-flap, pull the tab and pop-up books) evokes images of diverting children's books or grand paper constructions of Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter or Star Wars scenes. The roots of these books, however, lie in astronomy and medicine and their pedigree is centuries old.

We can look back nearly 900 years to the first known lift-the-flap manuscript, the Liber Floridus (1121), which shows the orbits of the planets.

Later books included anatomy texts where the lift-the-flap function was ideal for showing the exterior and then interior of organs such as the heart; click on the link to see this 1662 example from Descartes' De homine figures.

Gradually, the movable book format moved into the world of juvenile literature, appearing in the mid-18^th century. Some were very simple lift-the-flap operations, but the format grew to include movable wheels, pull-string or pull-tab devices and eventually the pop-up book where the simple act of turning of the page engineers a 3D construction ranging from simple to magnificently complex.

These early forms of interactive materials were designed to engage young readers in the text, whether for amusement or instruction -- or as Spring projecting figures, or, Dean's new model book: The farmer & his family (1865) notes, "by carefully raising the projecting parts of the pictures, the effect will be improved." Topics for juvenile movable books ranged widely from fairy tales, Bible stories, domestic life, and historical events.

Today, movable books again bring you science in wonderfully intricate pop-ups and lift-the-flap publication like Bugs by paper engineer George McGavin.

The world-renowned historical children's book collection at the Osborne Collection in the Lillian H. Smith Branch of the Toronto Public Library contains works by many noted paper engineers, including the six-foot, life-sized Dimensional Man -- as the catalogue summary says, "just lift the left pectoral muscle to see the thorax or turn the large intestine anti-clockwise to reveal the abdomen!"

Note: The Osborne Collection www.torontopubliclibrary.ca\osborne\ offers excellent opportunities to explore science books for children through the centuries. It is housed in the Lillian H. Smith Branch, along with the Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation & Fantasy.

Gillian O'Reilly