Kids have fun at Pop-up Book Exhibition

Kids have fun at Pop-up Book Exhibition

When you open a pop-up book, you might see flowers blooming at you, or castles rising from the horizon. In Shanghai, kids were able to learn how to make their own pop-up books at an exhibition for the art form.

Pulling, pushing and spreading...these books are not only for reading but also for playing. And the subjects of the books vary, from animals, to fairy tales and science fiction.

"There is a pop-up 3D Transformer in the book. I like it a lot." said Lin Yuhan.

"There are some books about famous stories and animals. My son likes animal books, his favorite are lions and tigers." said Huang Chun.

Organizers say they put about 100 American pop-up books on display, with the oldest one dating back to the 1880s. Among them, 30 books are open for kids to touch, including books from two well-known pop-up book authors. They say they have different ideas about how to make such books interesting to kids.

"Sometimes we take a story that already exists and make it into a story...sometimes we have to write our own stories, like I have a book called the Castaway Pirates which I wrote...which was a surprise. Other times, like my paper blossoms book, there are no words." said Ray Marshall, British Pop-Up Book Author.

"Well, what I do is I try to remember what I was like as a child and what I would have enjoyed as a child...and that's who I design my books for...for the young David Carter. And that seems to work. So I'm not really...I don't really think about what children would like, I think about what I would have liked as a child. That's how I design my books." said David Carter, American Pop-Up Book Author.

The show also includes a workshop where Marshall and Carter will teach kids how to make a simple pop-up book of their own.

"I have seen some of the pieces by children. They are very beautiful and I think they are as good as some of the exhibits. We even put some of their work in the show. Every day we would hold a workshop and an award ceremony for kids when the show comes to an end." said Chen Ji, Curator.

The show is scheduled to run until August 22nd, but Chen says they might extend it due to its unexpected popularity.