Customer Reviews

The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 2: Platforms and Props: How to Make Pop-Ups Step-by-Step

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Carol's Pocket Paper Engineer book is fabulous!
The information, illustrations, inspirations, index and references are exceptional.
I appreciate the clear, concise and witty presentation, which is exactly like Carol is, in person!
Having recently taken a pop-up workshop at the Santa Fe Art Institute with Carol,
I was eagerly looking forward to this new book. My anticipation was well rewarded.
This book is so very much like Carol is, in person, infused with passion, pizazz, humor, integrity and jam packed with stimulating challenges to delight the paper engineer of any age, background or expereince.

The size and scale of Carol's book is perfect. It is large enough to study with ease and small enough to
carry and peruse when traveling, riding the bus or standing in a check out line. In case you wonder, I find life more interesting if I carry a book to study, when life gets boring or I need to maximize my time, while waiting to accomplish life's silly, time consuming details.

I absolutely love the spiral binding which allows the book to lie perfectly flat on your bench
while creating your art images and pop-up wonders. The periodic quotes send shivers up and down my spine!
The directions are clear and easy to follow and once you have created the exercise, you are eager to push the new visual information further using your own personal, artistic imagery.

The Pocket Paper Engineer is a meticulous, well researched and written, illustrated and executed
creative art tech book. Besides the aspect of the pop-up structures (platforms and props) the reader
is creatively challenged, stimulated and well rewarded. We are encouraged to think in all (different) directions in order to go past our own personal limitations, while working through the exercises in a well planned and executed order of events. This book will "pop-up" and ignite your grey matter in ways that will lead to more creative "pop-ups!" Enough said!

Mini-disclaimer:
This review has been respectfully written from the following prospectives:
I am not a book artist, as such, but I have spent a lot of time around a fabulous book artist!
Yes, I am the late Shereen LaPlantz's husband, David.
From the vantage point of living with a book artist, I feel that I have an intimate understanding of book arts, their creators and the magic contained within them.
Therefore, by osmosis I have lived with incredible artists' books all around me. I feel so fortunate!
My art life revolves around making metal jewelry and assemblage, mixed media sculpture
in the form of "Art Microphones."

This book is an excellent follow-on to volume 1, which I enjoyed very much. This second volume covers platform and tabbed pop-ups of various sorts: structures which are cut separately from the main pop-up card or paper and are attached to it by hidden glue tabs, slots and other devices. These are the structures used by paper engineers like Robert Sabuda in their fabulous books.

Like the first volume (which features many of the various pop-up structure you can make by folding and cutting into a single piece of paper or card) this book includes samples of each structure that you make yourself. Following the directions--which are very clear and well illustrated--and actually cutting and gluing the pop-up yourself is a great way to learn and remember how to make it. In addition, as a bonus, you have a nice, fully-illustrated pop-up card you can keep or give away when you're done (much nicer than practicing with just a plain piece of paper).

Carol Barton is both a first rate paper engineer and a capable writer, a combination of talents which results in a great book that anyone interested in pop-ups will enjoy. If you master the techniques in this book and volume 1, you will be well on your way to becoming a pop-up expert. I highly recommend this book.

If you have always loved pop-up books and cards, then this is a craft book for you!

This is a beautifully illustrated and packaged book. The interior is a heavy-duty spiral binding that enables the book to lay flat and the pages to turn easily. Around the spiral binding is a hardcover that protects the contents. Author Barton has clearly and plainly explained terms you may need to know, supplies you may find helpful, and even supplied suggestions for gluing, folding, and cutting that will make your projects look professionally done.

The book provides a number of projects you can simply pull out of the book, follow the instructions, and complete a beautiful finished project in almost no time. But you are not limited to the provided projects; this book will spark ideas that you can do with your own materials for a number of fun uses. My ten-year-old son and I have made cards, a Lego background scene, and are designing our own pop-up book from ideas we found in this book. You will only be limited by your imagination once you know the secrets of how to construct the various forms of pop-ups explained in this book!

I do not have Volume 1 of this series, but that is something I intend to remedy very soon. These books are both a marvelous resource and a project book all in one. With book one; you are able to purchase the project pages separately so that you do not have to remove them from the book if you don't wish too. I really hope this package of project pages will also be available for the second book for those of us who hate to tear anything out of a book.

Anyone, of any age, who loves to create with paper whether it is for card making, scrapbooking, or other imaginative paper art projects, will love this book!

Armchair Interviews says: See our earlier review of The Pocket Paper Engineer-Volume 1: Basic Forms by Carol Barton.

Like Volume I, Volume II is filled with easy to follow directions that allow the beginning or advanced paper engineer to learn how to make an amazing variety of pop-ups. I can't wait to share this Volume with my students who love paper and sculpting with it. The easy-to-follow directions and fabulous illustrations make it just plain fun. AND--I was motivated to play around and try each one of the structures because of how these two elements work together. If it was just plain paper, it would have ended up on my shelf with some of my other resource books.

Well done Carol!

The Pocket Paper Engineer, Volume 2, is as exciting and approachable as Volume One. I am a novice paper engineer. However, not only am I able to understand the clear instructions, but can hardly wait to go on to the next beautifully illustrated project. This book has my mind buzzing with ideas to do on my own. In addition, I love the provacative quotes in both volumes at the beginning of each section. Thank you, Carol Barton, for another excellent book.

Like volume 1, Carol Barton's newest book on how to create pop-ups is a must-buy for every paper-crazy person, whether or not you think of yourself as an "artist." Her instructions are easy to follow, and creating pop-ups is a great kid-friendly project. Loved it!! I'm still working on my floating platforms, but I can't wait for volume 3!

Unlike the other reviewers, I don't have a copy of Volume 1, but Volume 2 is so well written, and the projects are so well organized and intriguing, that I'm now looking forward to working my way through both volumes. This will be a special pleasure since my 11-year-old granddaughter is very excited about creating her own pop-ups; this book is just what we both need!

I've been eagerly awaiting volume 2 of the Pocket Paper Engineer since I devoured the first volume and took a class with Carol Barton a couple of summers ago. She is that rare combination: wonderfully creative and a fabulous teacher. These talents translate to her instruction books beautifully. She is scrupulously careful and thoroughly knowledgeable and it shows in the quality of her instructions and the projects included. The book is a work of art in itself and the projects are absolute fun, too! I would recommend starting with volume 1 if you are a beginner. Clear your schedule---you will become addicted.

i love to sit with this book and my little watercolor creations and create unique popups. I will be posting them soon at [...]

Having already read and created some basic pop-ups using Volume 1 of Carol Barton's "The Pocket Paper Engineer", I was predictably eager to read Volume 2. Now, Volume 2 takes the pop-up creation process further and some of the techniques are more complicated, yet it is still user-friendly. The author has created a guide which provides clear-cut instructions and also reveals the intricacies of creating pop-ups.

I have not tried out many of the projects listed here, but I have achieved some measure of success with those that I did try out. This is not merely a book for those interested in learning how to create pop-ups but also one which informs readers, especially fans of pop-up books the techniques and principles behind the paper engineering that goes into creating pop-ups. The guide itself is spiral-bound, which makes it convenient for flipping through and also has pockets in which one can store projects. Highly recommended!