Saturday, October 23, 2010

Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol, Paper Engineering by Chuck Fischer

If you look up this book on a book seller site, it will say Pop-Up book.  But calling what Chuck Fischer does with paper pop-up is like saying the ocean is a bit wet.  He calls it paper engineering and that is a much more accurate term.

Fischer has retold Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol with magically intricate paper art.  Each page unfolds to amazing figures that leap off the page.  The images are amazingly detailed and take the reader to Victorian England.  Each page also has an insert booklet where the reader can read related chapters from Dicken's novel.

Fischer has done images for the title page (a Victorian London street scene), You Will Be Haunted by Three Spirits (a ghost trailing chains and weights, The Ghost Of Christmas Past (a spirit rising from a candle), The Ghost of Christmas Present (a harvest king with a magnificent feast is portrayed), The Last Of The Spirits (a towering black figure which fills the viewer with awe), and God Bless Us Every One (showing Scrooge and Tiny Tim in a glorious conclusion)

Chuck Fischer is an artist whose designs have been replicated world-wide in paintings, holiday ornaments and home furnishings.  His designs include wallpaper and fabrics in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum.  He has done six previous paper engineering books.  I was lucky enough to get a copy of his glorious Angels last year.  These books are destined to become family heirlooms for the joy they bring to the viewer and are highly recommended for all readers, whether young or young at heart.

2 comments:

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

I haven't heard of his books before (Fischer, that is), but this sounds like the kind of thing I'd love. Thanks :)

Sandie said...

It is one of the most gorgeous books I've ever had.