Books

Pop-Up Books Make a Comeback

The phrase “pop-up book” is likely to conjure up images of children’s books. But originally, pop-ups weren’t geared toward kids at all.

“Pop-ups have an interesting history, dating back to the 14th century,” explains author and illustrator Pamela Pease, the owner of Chapel Hill’s Paintbox Press. “They were used then for communicating ideas about astronomy or about the human body that were difficult to communicate in words alone. It wasn’t until much more recently that they were considered as anything fun.”

With her own pop-up books — The Garden is Open, Macy’s On Parade and Derby Day — Pease may not entirely have returned to the genre’s earliest missions (no dense scientific material here), but she certainly uses the pop-up medium to present a wealth of information in an entertaining format. In addition to tiers of marching bands strutting across the page, Rockettes high-kicking in sync, and Santa and his reindeer wishing Happy Holidays in 3-D, Macy’s On Parade also takes readers behind-the-scenes of the famous Thanksgiving Day parade with a chronological walk-through of the event and a generous sprinkling of information: Bands are only eligible to perform in the parade once every five years, for example, or the amount of confetti released each year during the festivities totals “over 1,000 pounds or 1,200,000 cubic inches.” (The book even includes a bag of confetti, as well as a map of the parade route.)

Likewise, in Derby Day, both the text and the pop-ups take readers into the backside at Churchill Downs, where a series of doors open up the duties of a trainer, a groom and a hot walker — among others — and later, readers follow the horses out of the gate and “down the stretch, past the grandstand and around the clubhouse turn.” Through a flip-book, readers learn how a horse gallops; a mini-CD features the Derby’s Official Bugler making the “Call to the Post”; and throughout the book, text and photos explore the history and customs of the 132-year-old event.

“After my contact at the Derby read the manuscript, he said, ‘Gee, I’ve learned a few things myself from reading your book,’” said Pease. “And that’s a great compliment.”

Pease started her career in the fashion industry. While a student at the Cincinnati College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning, she faced a dilemma about which route to follow — graphics or fashion. She chose fashion, which led to a 20-year career path in the swimwear and sportswear market in Los Angeles. But when a family move led her first to Buffalo, NY, and then to Chapel Hill, she had a second chance to follow the other route.

“If we were still in Los Angeles, I would still be actively in the fashion industry,” she explained. “But moving here gave me the opportunity to explore the path I hadn’t taken.”

Her first pop-up book began as a project for her master’s program at Syracuse University; The Garden Is Open presented her Chapel Hill neighbors, twins Bernice Wade and Barbara Stiles, and the 60-year-old garden they tend and open to the public each April. Pease produced the book and printed 50 copies — hardly enough supply for the demand that followed her debut of the book at the twins’ annual celebration. When she couldn’t produce more copies quickly enough, she turned to a professional printer. And thus was born Paintbox Press.

Each of the subsequent books has been a two-year process, arising from personal interests and then capturing regional and national attention. Macy’s On Parade grew from her own family’s tradition of watching the parade on TV, and her involvement with the Kentucky Derby dates back to 1973 when Pease was in the infield during Secretariat’s big win.

With each book, Pease has contacted official representatives of the organizations portrayed, and they have been eager to invite Pease behind-the-scenes, provide access to archives or to help facilitate permission for certain images. For example, the Snoopy “balloon” that dangles between the buildings in one spread of the Macy’s book required permission from the estate of Charles M. Schulz. These representatives also help to fact-check the content of the books.

As for the creative process, “I start out with the images,” said Pease. “Because there are only seven or eight spreads in a pop-up, you really have to focus on the key things you want to show.”

A white cardstock dummy is the next step, with illustrations done by hand and precise diagrams for the construction of the pages. “You may not think at first glance that a lot goes into each page, but there’s about a hundred pieces in each of these books, and each of them has to be die-cut,” she explained. “I make diagrams about where the glue should go and what the shape needs to be and how it needs to affix to the base page.”

Because her printing house is in China, Pease deals with an additional challenge: “I don’t have the benefit of a face-to-face discussion. The visual information [I send to the printer] and the graphic files have to be able to tell the story.” The production process itself takes three to six months, including both active work and shipping. A first-run of books usually numbers around 10,000 copies.

Sales are inevitably both regional and seasonal. The Derby book sells more briskly in Kentucky during the spring, while the parade book sees greater success from September through December — with large quantities sold in New York. Pease has traveled to Kentucky for book signings on both Derby Day and the Day of the Oaks for the past two years. This year she’s visiting New York for signings, and this Thanksgiving Day, she serves — for the second time — as a clown in the parade.

Pease has also enjoyed success throughout North Carolina, as well, and her acclaim as an author has led to teaching opportunities at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she has already taught one course on the art of the picture book, and where she’ll teach a spring 2007 course on international children’s literature.

In the midst of all this, Pease also continues to look ahead to future books. “I have a laundry list of things that I think would be fun projects,” she said, and three specific ideas are currently in the planning and negotiating stages — still too early to discuss in detail.

But with three strong books behind her, there’s plenty for Pease to appreciate, and plenty for readers, as well in these projects that hearken back to the earliest days of pop-ups — especially in these technologically over-rich times.

“One of the fun things about pop-ups now is that everything is electronic and by remote control,” said Pease. “So much of what kids do is in front of the computer screen, but there’s something really engaging about opening up a book that could have been produced a hundred years ago, where you make things work yourself, where there’s a tactile sensation of reading a book and manipulating the parts. Kids today don’t do that quite as much, and maybe that’s why pop-ups are having a resurgence, because it provides that alternative to the other forms of entertainment or learning today.”

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

The much-admired Jeff Shaara is among the authors offering readings in the Triangle this month. The son of Michael Shaara — the Pulitzer Prize-winning author best known for the Civil War masterpiece The Killer Angels — Jeff crafted his own highly praised novel of the Civil War, Gods and Generals, and has continued to write historical novels set in both the American Revolution and World War I. Last month, he debuted the first in a projected trilogy of books devoted to World War II: The Rising Tide covers events in North Africa and throughout Southern Europe from spring 1942 through early 1944.

Jeff will be reading from and discussing the new book on Tuesday evening, Dec. 5, at McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village. Expect a crowd for this best-selling, much-loved author.

Also of note this month, Barnes & Noble stores host their annual holiday book drive, encouraging patrons to donate books for distribution to specific charities chosen by each store: in the Greenville store, for example, the Boys & Girls Club of Pitt County, and at Streets of Southpoint, the Durham’s Partnership for Children. To borrow a well-used phrase: Give the gift of reading.

And the Regulator Bookshop in Durham celebrates its 30th Anniversary with a special event — authors, music and refreshments — on Saturday evening, Dec. 2. A party not to be missed!

Other notable events this month include:

• Joanna Catherine Scott, with more tour stops for her new novel, The Road from Chapel Hill, at McIntyre’s Books on Saturday morning, Dec. 2; and at Barnes & Noble, Streets at Southpoint, on Saturday evening, Dec. 16.

• Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mark Ethridge, continuing to tour with his debut novel, Grievances, at Raleigh’s Quail Ridge Books on Wednesday evening, Dec. 6.

• Charles Thompson, director of undergraduate studies at Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies, with his new book, The Old German Baptist Brethren: Faith Farming, and Change in the Virginia Blue Ridge, at the Regulator Bookshop on Wednesday evening, Dec. 6.

• North Carolina historian William Powell, whose Encyclopedia of North Carolina was reviewed in the last issue of Metro, at two locations: McIntyre’s Books on Saturday morning, Dec. 9; and Quail Ridge Books on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 9.

• Bland Simpson, with his book The Inner Islands: A Carolinian’s Sound Country Chronicle, also reviewed in last month’s issue, at several locations: Dee Gee’s Books in Morehead City on Friday afternoon, Dec. 1; Scuttlebutt in Beaufort on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 2; Waldenbooks in New Bern on Monday morning, Dec. 4; Sunflower Books in Little Washington on Monday afternoon, Dec. 4; the Currituck Public Library in Barco on Monday evening, Dec. 4; and McIntyre’s Books on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 10.