The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume I: Basic Forms: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step: Carol Barton
Review
A brilliant book which explains in detail how to make popups. Starting with a short history of paper engineering and the mechanics of how to make 3-D forms come alive. The simple concept of a pop-up delights everyone. From the easiest of folds to the more complicated constructs with layered movement that pulls out from the page when opened. It’s a must to start at the beginning of this book, as all materials and directions are neatly explained. The language is aimed at a young audience, but this is great when introducing precise techniques neede to make pop-ups work. The design of the book, with its oversized portrait layout and spiral bind gives the reader the feeling they are entering a great hands-on instruction manual rather than a sit-in-bed under-the-covers kinda book. — Whip Up Blog Archive, February 9, 2008
Barton’s book, with its handsome portfolio-style packaging complete with tabs,…foldout pages, and practice sheets is a beautiful tool…. — National Art Education Assoc. News, February 2006
Carol Barton’s pop-up workbook is glorious! Unique and delightfully playful, her work continues the time-honored tradition of movables in books. — Robert Sabuda, prize-winning paper engineer, October 2005
I’m in love with Carol Barton’s book "The Pocket Paper Engineer," a step-by-step guide to designing and executing pop-up effects with paper. Most of the examples focus on grown-up uses for pop-ups–effective presentations and so on–but it’s really easy to see how you could use this with kids (or friends) to make wicked-cool art. The book carefully guides you through progressively more amibitious popups, in a clear and easy-to-follow style with tons of illustrations and examples. The author promises more volumes with even more advanced techniques. — Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing.com, July 15, 2007
Imagine having the ability to make one of those beautiful, intricate pop-up books or cards that make young and old alike ooh and ahh over your handiwork. Think you couldn’t do it? Well, with Carol Barton’s help you just might. Barton’s book, "The Pocket Paper Engineer" is divided by actual tabs into five categories for easy referral. Those categories are: Directions, Boxes, Triangles, Combinations and Variations, and Layers. Each category gives a page of explanation: a step-by-step illustrated instruction guide; a photo of the finished pop-up; a handy tear-out practice sheet complete with detailed, labeled cut lines drawn in; and a pocket for storage of completed projects…. A unique gift for the amateur artist, "The Pocket Paper Engineer" provides hours of artistic fun easy enough for children to conquer and entertaining enough for an adult who likes to fiddle around with crafts. — Bookpleasures.com, Fall 2003
It is not so much a book as a hands-on workshop, illustrated…by all sorts of wonderful pop-ups throughout. — BALLAST Quarterly Review, Summer 2005
Recently I gave my art education class an assignment to create a book for children to introduce them to architecture and an appreciation of historic styles. What began as a rather academic assignment turned into a three-dimensional fun-fest after I presented Carol Barton’s manual on how to create pop-up books. With Barton’s simple-to-follow diagrams of basic pop-up techniques, the students’ building illustrations went beyond just informational notes to becoming fanciful structures that one could walk around and enter. In her book, Ms. Barton does an excellent job of explaining all the steps that lift any flat art project into space, allowing it to come to life…. For kids, a natural interest in the subject makes them perfect candidates to become "pocket paper engineers." — National Association of Art Educators News, February 2006
We’ve always wondered how they get (pop-ups) to work. We figured we would never know…until (this) new book. — The Hartford Courant, January 20, 2006
Would-be architects and engineers will enjoy this introduction to the art of making pop-ups. Unlike many books on the subject, this one does not offer elaborate projects. Instead, Barton explains the mechanics behind basic forms and techniques. Although today pop-ups and "movables" are often associated with children’s books, the author points out that as early as the fifteenth century, such constructions were used in scientific texts for fields like astronomy and human anatomy. Included in the spiral-bound volume are simple but sophisticated projects that can be cut out and constructed, designed so that "the beauty of their underlying geometries can be readily comprehended and appreciated." Teachers will find this book a useful classroom resource (if they can keep students from taking their scissors to the book). It would also make an excellent gift for a budding paper engineer…. — Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine, February 2006
Review
“Carol Barton’s pop-up workbook is glorious! Unique and delightfully playful, her work continues the time-honored tradition of movables in books.” —Robert Sabuda, author, Winter’s Tale: An Original Pop-Up Journey
“Most of the examples focus on grown-up uses for popups—effective presentations and so on—but it’s really easy to see how you could use this with kids (or friends) to make wicked-cool art.” —BoingBoing.net