Customer Reviews

White Noise: A Pop-up Book for Children of All Ages

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

 

 

Following his amazing, highly successful paper structure series (One Red Dot, Blue 2, 600 Black Spots, Yellow Square) the ingenious David Carter presents his final volume, WHITE NOISE, a nonpareil pop-up book for everyone from two to 92.

Beginning with "Rainbow bubble blast and crackly white noise," the pages sing as they are opened. In fact, they both spring and sing as the incredible boldly colored structures leap from the page. As the author has noted, "On some pages the sound is subtle, and on some pages the sound is obvious, but it is always created by the white portion of that page's structure." In addition to listening for the sound, you'll also discover a red dot, a blue 2, 600 black spots and a yellow square, all references to Carter's previous titles.

One structure in the book, Sierra Nevada Chopsticks, came about because Carter lives in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains and this piece "resembles snowy mountain peaks with angular paper shapes that jut up like chopstick." Also, while enjoying this, look for the author's ski tracks off the back side of the highest peak.

To be fully appreciated this book calls for repeated visits not only to experience the art but to hear again the unique sounds. White Noise is exciting, entertaining, and exhilarating!

- Gail Cooke

In the final installment of his color series of pop-up books, David A. Carter treats us to new and familiar examples of his amazing paper engineering. From the front cover to the last page, White Noise is filled with an explosion of startling shapes and colors. The sounds are much subtler, though. Take your time as you turn each page and listen carefully. The quietest environment will yield the most satisfying results.

Children and adults will marvel at the bold designs that dare to be touched. But be careful, the paper pop-ups are extremely delicate and are easily damaged from misuse and overuse. White Noise--like the other books in this series--is not for wee one's fingers; it won't endure the abuse. Remarkably, each book has to be assembled by hand, making every one a singular creation.

One of the most clever things about this series is discovering elements of the previous books hidden discretely somewhere within each new title. White Noise is no different. Did you discover One Red Dot? Wondering where the Blue 2 is based? Did you single out 600 Blacks Spots? Will you yahoo when you recognize Yellow Square?

Enjoy the journey, White Noise is where it ends.

I'm not familiar with this line of books at all, but I love and collect pop-up books (my four-year-old and I spend lots of time pouring over them). I also love to give them as gifts, so I ordered this for a friend's child because I was going for a "rainbow/colorful" theme for her gifts.

While I was very pleased with the paper sculptures that explode from the book in intricate shape and bold color, I was a little disappointed there wasn't more text in the book. I tend to really love the pop up books that combine lots of paper engineering with lots of information- they are almost like tiny museums, with images and information literally emerging from every page of the book. The kind of pop-up books that you spend hours reading as well as examining.

In "White Noise", there's a lovely poetic cadence to the brief language in the book, it's just that there's really nothing to read- the book's sole purpose is to be a vessel for the pop-up shapes. The book and the shapes and the colors really do amount to an amazing feast-for-the-senses, though.

I think the book is striking and will not hesitate to get it for our own collection of pop-ups. I just thought I might warn some parents/gift givers that this isn't really a "book" you sit and read with a child for a long time. It's more of a visual experience. You'll spend your time examining the forms in the book and making up your own narrative and ideas.

My daughter loves the other books in this series, namely the yellow square book and the red dot book, but this one held none of our interests. The cut-outs aren't nearly as interesting and the "noise" is the same on each page. The designs are also poorly glued in, with one ripping just slowly turning the page. I would highly recommend the other colors in this book series, but this one has been looked through once and never opened again.

i have a few of the other books in this series (one red dot, 600 black spots) and i think they are really cool. while the other books rely on more on counting and discovering certain visual elements this book takes it to the next level and incorporates the idea of discovering the subtle sound created by the white portion of each title. these books are a visual treat for kids and parents alike, but the artistic nature of the text as well as the pop-ups makes this books ideal for a slightly older audience.

Great book. Might be a bit delicate for wee ones. Great activities to do with the book. My 4 and 6 year old grandchildren liked it.

This book is a treat for the eyes and ears! Carter's trademark "cut-outs" are designed to create sounds as they move into place. I highly recommend this enchanting book and feel that it will stimulate the "creative side" of most everyone who experiences it! The Amazon price is amazing.
Dr. Mary Palmer

My 4-year-old son is a huge fan of David A. Carter; from the first time he saw his book he insisted to get all of them, I love them too! They are extremely creative and fun and provide endless imaginary.

David A. Carter, White Noise (Simon and Schuster, 2009)

I love the idea of this. It's a pop-up book where the pop-ups are specifically designed to create noise as you turn the pages. It's a great idea, and you can see the inherent-interest factor among preschoolers. A few minutes of reflection, though, and you can see the drawback in this idea: repeated use is going to kill this book pretty quick. (Side note: this is one you pretty much never want to try and get from the library.) And since the concept of sound in a book that has no electronics attached to it is probably going to lead to fascination, if you do buy a copy, you may find yourself replacing it more often than any other book you own. But a fun one it is, and if you do get a chance to test-drive it, you'll probably end up wanting a copy of your own. *** ½

This book and the reviews seemed very interesting. I got it for my wife for Christmas based on all the great reviews. What a complete disappointment this turned out to be. First, we were confused about the noise part. The only noise we could hear was the paper rustling. Second, the pop up portions appeared to be scrapes from his other books. It did not appear to be very artfully done.

White Noise = Sadness