September 2025, Your Meggendorfer Nominees! Vol 33, No 3
In this issue:
2025 Meggendorfer Prize Nominees
MBS Conference Speakers Gene Vosough
So, here we are. On the cusp of another fabulous MBS Biennial Conference!
This issue is devoted most of all to the exciting week in St. Louis ahead. From exciting presentations, to the crowning of our newest Meggendorfer recipients, to exploring St. Louis itself, but also to the camaradarie of celebrating with friends, old and new, we cannot WAIT for the 25th to arrive!
We hope that many, many of you will make the journey to Missouri, in person OR online. There are surprises in store, treasures to discover, friends to make. But also, we are making one change in how this magazine is distributed. As a rule, it is kept private for two full years as a members-only privilege. But we cannot deny that there are so many wonderful paper engineers, exciting books, and opportunities inherent in the conference that we just have to share with the world at large. So we are releasing this fresh issue unrestricted in hopes it will also provide a window into our corner of the world. If you are new to Stationery and the Movable Book Society, welcome! We hope you discover and kindle a passion for this magical art form along with all of us here at the MBS. We hope that perhaps, this discovery will inspire you to join us and revel in the seemingly impossible: Movable and Pop-Up Magic!
Bruce Foster, editor
All About St. Louis!
After an exciting time in Cleveland in 2023, we’re continuing our Midwestern tour… And so, it’s almost time for the 15th Biennial Movable Book Society Conference, at the Drury Plaza Hotel St. Louis at the Arch! There’s still time to register to attend online if you haven't done so. You won't want to miss our keynote speaker, Julie Chen, voting for the Trade Book Meggendorfer–and for lucky in-person attendees–getting your hands on amazing local special collections of movable books at Washington University Libraries, and much more! We’re continuing some venerable MBS traditions and making new ones, with the second appearance of our popular Pop-Off! improv paper engineering gameshow on Thursday night! And Friday night's Show & Tell is trying out its first-ever theme: “Speakeasy,” which we’re hoping will make for an exciting time for consenting, in-person adults.
In-person and online viewers will get their own special St. Louis pop-up make-andtake zine: both the printed copies subsidized by Structural Graphics and the printable-at-home versions were tirelessly coordinated by speaker and incoming MBS Board Member Amy Lopez Nayve and an international team of artists! Our silent auction, book fair, and much more also awaits! We’re so excited that we’re making this special issue of Movable Stationery about the conference open access… Looking forward to meeting you there!
Suzanne
P.S. As always, please reach out with any questions, suggestions or concerns:
Suzanne Karr Schmidt, Director info@movablebooksociety.org Movablebooksociety.org
On this page: A spread from Birdscapes, the pop-up and soundscape designed by the late Gene Vosough. Insets: A carousel designed for a client's wedding in India by Gene as well.
Meggendorfer Prize for Trade Book 2025
Presenting your finalists for the ten nominated books of 2025.
SIMONARIZPE
MARIONBATAILLE
DAVIDACARTER
ROSSTONMEYER
PETERDAHMEN STARSHEN
The Society awards two Meggendorfer Prizes:
The Trade Book Award for outstanding paper engineering to a paper engineer who has published the outstanding trade edition of a pop-up or movable book in the two years preceding the biennial conference.
The second, The Artist Book Award, shall be awarded to the creator of an unpublished movable or pop-up artist book created in the two years preceding the biennial conference.
Previous Winning Paper Engineers and Books
1998 Robert Sabuda The Christmas Alphabet
2000 Robert Sabuda Cookie Count: A Tasty Pop-up
2002 Robert Sabuda The Wizard of Oz: A Classic Collectible
" "2004 Andrew Baron Knick-Knack Paddywhack!
2006 David A Carter One Red Dot: A Pop-up for Children of All Ages
2008 Matthew Reinhart Star Wars Pop-up Guide to the Galaxy
2010 Marion Bataille ABC3D
2012 Ray Marshall Paper Blossoms
2014 Matthew Reinhart Transformers: The Ultimate Pop-up Universe
2016 Shawn Sheehy Welcome to the Neighborwood
2018 Simon Arizpe Zahhak: The Legend of the Serpent King
2020 Wang Wei Opening the Forbidden City
2023 David A Carter, James Diaz Complexities of Pop-Up
Interesting Stats:
Previous Recipients:
Simon Arizpe
David A Carter
Marion Bataille
Previously Nominated: Rosston Meyer
First-time Nominees:
Peter Dahmen
Mike Malkovas
Ma Mengxin
Star Shen
Aleksey Zauer
Guan Zhongping, Li Xiaoqing
Countries represented:
Simon Arizpe is an award-winning pop-up book designer and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. In 2018 Arizpe's pop-up book, Zahhak, received the Meggendorfer Prize for best trade pop-up book, as well as the Society of Illustrators' Award of Excellence. Recently his Stranger Things Pop-Up Book was a New York Times bestseller. In addition to his design work, Simon also teaches paper engineering at the Pratt Institute.
Keith Haring devoted his career to making art that was available to everyone. The Keith Haring Pop-Up Book brings Keith's iconic work right into the viewer's hands, exploring several of the artist's signature styles and through threedimensional pop-up spreads.
Simon Arizpe
ISBN: 979-8985469561
Published January 1, 2024 Poposition Press
KeithHaringPop-UpBook
Marion Bataille
Marion Bataille is a graphic designer, illustrator, paper engineer, and author of children's books. She designs typography workshops, games, and exhibitions in which hands-on activities play a major role. She also makes short animated films. Her first animated alphabet book, ABC3D, published in 2008 by Albin Michel, has been reprinted ever since and has appeared in 12 countries. It won the Most Beautiful French Book Award and the prestigious Meggendorfer Prize in 2010.
Published September 5, 2024 Éditions les Grandes Personnes
JIM
David A Carter
David A. Carter has been designing pop-up books since 1980 when he moved from Salt Lake City, Utah to Los Angeles, California looking for opportunites as a graphic artist. Answering an ad for a paste-up artist at Intervisual Communications, Inc., he was hired by his future partner on both The Elements of Pop-Up and The Complexities of Pop-Up, Jim Diaz.
Working under the guidance of such luminaries as Waldo Hunt, David Pelham, Jan Pienkowski, and John Strejan, David began designing his own books with the eponymous, How Many Bugs in a Box?, which went on to become a much-heralded series. While there, David met his future wife, Noelle, the daughter of none other than Tor Lokvig. Now residing in Sacramento, David and Noelle have two daughters, Molly and Emily.
By 1987 David left I.C.I. to start his own business and in 2018 founded Blossom Books. His work has been exceedingly well received and has accrued award after award including the Meggendorfer Award twice, once in 2006 for One Red Dot, and in 2023 with James Diaz, The Complexities of Pop-Up.
MOVE!
Says David: "I believe that art is entertainment for the mind and my motto is: Have Fun!"
ISBN: 978-0500653425
Published February 10, 2024 Thames and Hudson
"Currently at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco is an exhibition by the American painter Wayne Thiebaud titled: Art Comes from Art. MOVE! Is an example of that concept. It’s no secret that I am inspired by the work of Alexander Calder.
In a biography of Calder, I read about how he considered his mobiles to be existing in the 4th dimension, time. As the mobiles move, they change form moment to moment, into the 4th dimension. This concept of work in the 4th dimension is the underlying basis for MOVE!. The sculptures in the book change from one moment to the next. With a movable book, I am able to add interactivity to the concept, making viewer involvement integral to the idea."
Peter Dahmen
Peter Dahmen was born in 1967 and studied Communication Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Dortmund, Germany. Since his student days, he has been passionate about creating three-dimensional folding objects out of paper and cardboard.
Even though Peter had been designing for years, it was in 2010 when he published a short film on YouTube showing his pop-up sculptures that he won a following in the millions worldwide. Since then, he has worked on pop-up projects with MoMA, Netflix, Iggesund Paper, The Jim Henson Company, and more. In addition to custom work, he creates paper art in his studio, although creating abstract white pop-up sculptures is still his favorite.
"I’ve always loved working with paper, but what fascinates me most is creating abstract, white pop-up sculptures. There’s something magical about that moment when a flat sheet suddenly unfolds into a three-dimensional form. I wanted to share that moment with others, so I started posting videos of my work online. They reached a large audience, which was wonderful – but a video can’t capture the feeling of holding a real pop-up sculpture in your hands. For many years, people could only experience my work on a screen. Now, that’s finally changed. Together with Poposition Press, I’ve created a book that contains six of my pop-up sculptures. When you open it, you can experience that magical transformation for yourself."
Published May 1, 2025 Willis Wonderland Foundation
WillisWonderland,TheLegendaryHouseofAtomicKitsch
Mike Malkovas has been designing pop-ups for clients in Europe and US for over 33 years, primarily collaborating with industry leaders such as Structural Graphics (US), Up With Paper (US), Burgopak/Purells (Poland), L’Agence PopUp (France) and others, creating hundreds of interactive structures for top US and European luxury, automotive/aviation, retail, food, pharma, tech, tourism and recreation, entertainment, greeting cards, banking and real estate clients through these companies. Mike has designed unique pop-ups for Aéroport Charles de Gaulle, Alcon, Audi, Balenciaga, BMW, Carlton Cannes, Carlsberg, Cartier, Charles Heidsieck, Chanel, Cheval Blanc, Coca Cola, Dior, Gucci, Guerlain, H&M, HBO, Hermès, Heineken, Hyundai, Issey Myiake, Kenzo, Kering, Loewe, LVMH, L'OREAL, Moulin Rouge, Prince of Liechtenstein, Pathé, Ritz Vendome, Safran, Sephora, Sisley, Thierry Mugler, Toyota, Walt Disney and many others, also creating giant books for Audemars Piguet watchmaker and worked on books for other European luxury brands under NDA. He also co-created a Hermès Creative award winning pop-up book for Lexus (USA). One of the books he co-designed for Loewe received a Grand Prix Lion at Cannes Lions 2024 (France).
"On one sunny Parisian Spring day (April 21st. 2023) an email from a well-known writer and digital innovator Hillary Carlip with a proposition of designing a semi-architectural book featuring a stylized house of one of the wildest Hollywood personalities fell straight from the sky into my mailbox. Hillary told me she found me through a Movable Book Society, and asked me whether I would like to design it.
I hadn't heard about Allee Willis before, but I certainly knew the songs, so there was no question whether I would like to participate in this kitschiest project ever, so I immediately said: YES! The work with Hillary was incredibly easy and straightforward despite the fact she hasn't worked with pop-ups previously." www.instagram.com/mikopops
ISBN: 978-7-308-24078-9
Published January 2023
Zhejiang University Press
www.instagram.com/mmx_popup
2296200658@qq.com
"I’d buy books by some famous designers— like David A. Carter and Matthew Reinhart. Every time, I’d get two copies: one to tear apart and study, the other to use as a reference to rebuild... But so many people helped along the way. Without them, this book would’ve never seen the light of day. Qi Xiao( ), Wang Wei ( ), and Hung Hsin Fu ( ), China's most outstanding paper engineers, helped me a lot."
Ma Mengxin
This is the first book from China to systematically study pop-up and movable structures. The book (Structure Study part) shows 156 structures in total, divided into 4 categories M (Movable structures), P (Pfolds), V (V-folds) and O (Other structures). The cards (Creative Design part), with over 50 pop-ups, show how to use basic structures to create new designs. Ma Mengxin completed A to Z Pop-Up Structures during her postgraduate studies. It is also her first published book.
Pop-UpsAtoZ:StructuresStudytoCreativeDesign
Rosston Meyer
It is a testament to the vision of Rosston Meyer than in the twelve years of Poposition Press, it finds itself now in the enviable position of having published not one, not two, but THREE books in the running for the top Meggendorfer prize! Oh, and a fourth (Pop-ups A to Z by Ma Mengxi) is available for purchase on his site!
Rosston, himself, of course is credited as the paper engineer on this book....
Based in Denver, Colorado, Poposition Press has become the de facto go-to for artistic pop-up books that in today's difficult market have been unable to find a traditional path to publication, including this runaway viral hit, Pull Me Apart, which for artist Heather Clements has earned her and her book millions of viewers.
Besides being an astute businessman, Kickstarter pro, visionary, and now paper engineer, Rosston is also a devoted husband and dedicated father to his two boys.
ISBN 979-8-9854695-8-5
Published September 15, 2024 Poposition Press
"The engineering on this book was a bit different than other projects as I took what Heather originally did and had to make it production ready which included making all the pull tabs lock as well as figuring out how to best achieve those really big and wide pull tabs. We ended up using foam to separate some of the background layers so that there was enough space to easily move the bigger pull tabs back and forth as well as add dimension to a couple other pages in Pull Me Apart."
Star Shen
Pop-Up:THECITYOFMOUNTAINS
Star Shen is a pop-up book designer and illustrator with a cross-cultural background. She graduated with an MA in Illustration from MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art). She loves building houses out of paper and is currently based in New York, where she explores telling stories of cultural fusion through paper art and illustration.
Website: www.starshen.net
"I’m truly grateful and excited to be a finalist for the Meggendorfer Prize again. The biennial conference feels like a festival to me — a time when people who love pop-up books can gather, share, and celebrate together. I always look forward to meeting friends from around the world, and I hope this community will stay as warm and lively as it is now for many years to come.
Thanks again for your kind support — I’m truly honored to be included in Movable Stationery again."
Aleksey Zauer
ISBN: 978-5-6052288-0-6
Published 2023
Flexilibrum Books Lab
Aleksey Zauer is a Russian designer who first discovered pop-up books online in 2017 while a packaging designer for a printing company. He credits most of his inspiration by studying PaperPaul's website, BestPopUpBooks.com
Folk Tales of the World is the first book published by Flexilibrum, an independent pop-up publisher based in Russia, in 2023. With an initial printing of 1000 hand-assembled copies, the book aims to present world folklore as both a cultural journey and a work of book art, where text, image and structure exist in harmony.
The six tales include:
“The Fan of Youth” (Japan) A story about how kindness and selflessness return to us a hundredfold.
“The Princess from the Orange” (Italy) A reminder that true beauty lies in deeds, not in appearance.
“The Serpent Tree” (Greece) A tale of honesty, inner strength, and the unexpected gifts of fate.
“The Stone Heart” (Germany) About compassion that can melt even the coldest heart.
“How Cha Became a Dragon” (China) On choosing between wealth and humanity.
“Manora” (Thailand) About love that overcomes everything — distance, fear, and even the boundaries between worlds.
"The Three-Body Problem is a landmark Chinese science fiction novel. Our team has transformed this epic story into an elaborate pop-up book with eight spreads. Through precise paper engineering and detailed illustrations, iconic scenes such as the "Guzheng Operation," "Nuclear Chain Reaction," "Destruction of Trisolaris," and "Dimensional Reduction of the Solar System" are vividly recreated. To capture the novel’s incredible sci-fi atmosphere, we integrated special materials including PVC, glow-in-the-dark ink, string mechanisms, and optical lenses. This fusion of paper art and innovative materials offers readers an extraordinary, immersive visual experience."
TheThreeBodyProblem
Guan Zhongping is the thirdgeneration inheritor of paper sculpture techniques, a Chinese pop-up book collector, and a visiting professor at Chongqing Second Normal University. He is also the founder of the Pop-Up Book House public platform (Instagram. com/movablebooks).
Li Xiaoqing is a professional book designer with a background in art and design. Over the past eleven years, she has created more than one hundred toy and pop-up books. Her notable works include the Super Animal City engineering series, the Peppa Pig toy book series, as well as pop-up adaptations of Journey to the West, Soul Land, The Three-Body Problem, and the Fun Science series.
He has lectured on the appreciation and design of pop-up books at leading institutions including the Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Communication University of China, and the Beijing Institute of Graphic Communication.
Guan has participated in the creation of numerous acclaimed works, including the Earth pop-up book, the Opening History pop-up book series, the Soul Land pop-up book, the ThreeBody Problem pop-up book, and the Chinese Tales pop-up book series.
Nominees for the Meggendorfer Prize for Artist Book 2025
APRILCAPALUNGAN
ORIGAMINOTES
NICOLASCODRON
WORLDMAPS
ADOGOFFLANDERS
WANGJIEMIN(CLAUDIA)
POP-UPALBUMFORDIOR2025CRUISECOLLECTION
MAARTENDEBRUYN
THEGODOFFORTUNEISCOMING DISEMBODIEDREEMBODIED
EMILYMARTIN CHINLIN
NAVIGATIONALTOOLSFORTHEWILLFULLYLOST
DAMIENPRUD'HOMME
JENNYSCHMID
RUPTURE
SUNSHINEPOETRY
AVERYSLEZAK
YUEXIANGHUI
CRUSTACEA
Speakers Slated for the MBS 2025 Conference
Keynote Speaker Julie Chen
Cracking the Paper Code: Uncovering the Secrets of Meggendorfer’s Movable Mechanisms
In 2024, Julie Chen received two grants from the University of Wisconsin–Madison to advance her research on the movable books of Lothar Meggendorfer. Known for his ingenious use of iron-riveted paper mechanisms, Meggendorfer created intricate, multi-movement animations activated by a single pull tab. His innovative designs brought pages to life, offering readers an engaging and interactive experience.
Chen will share insights from her year-long research project, which involved meticulously documenting original Meggendorfer books and reverse-engineering their mechanisms. She will discuss the challenges and discoveries of this process, including the creation of technical models replicating Meggendorfer’s intricate designs. Additionally, Chen will introduce her upcoming artist’s book project, inspired by this research, offering a contemporary perspective on these historical movable mechanisms.
Julie Chen is an internationally known book artist who has been publishing limited edition artists’ books under the Flying Fish Press imprint for over 30 years. Her books combine text and
image with innovative book structures to create reading experiences that engage the reader in interactions that go far beyond the simple turning of a page. Her work can be found in numerous collections worldwide including the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and the Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland, NZ. In 2009 she was a featured artist in the PBS television series, Craft in America and in 2020 she was one of the featured artists in the documentary film, The Book Makers. She is a professor of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Website: https://flyingfishpress.com/
MBS Director Suzanne Karr Schmidt
Suzanne Karr Schmidt has been the Director of the Movable Book Society since October 2023. For her day job, she is the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at the Newberry Library in Chicago. She curated one of their most popular exhibitions in decades in 2023, on the topic of... pop-up books!
Bluesky: @drkarrschmidt.bsky.social Instagram and Tiktok: @ladydisdaine Facebook: Suzanne Karr Schmidt
Ellen G. K. Rubin, aka The Popuplady, has collected pop-up and movable books for about 40 years ago. She began collecting in earnest after attending Yale’s Sterling Library’s exhibition, Eccentric Books while attending the medical school’s Physician Associate program.
She now writes about movable paper, conducts pop-up workshops, and curates exhibitions including, Brooklyn Pops Up! in 2000, Ideas in Motion: The History of Pop-ups at SUNY New Paltz, 2006, and Paper Engineering: Fold, Pull, Pop & Turn in 2010 for the Smithsonian Library.
Ellen has curated two exhibits from her collection at the Grolier Club (NYC), Pop-ups from Prague: A Centennial Celebration of the Graphic Artistry of Vojtěch Kubašta, in 2014, which traveled to the National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The second exhibit, Animated Advertising: 200 Years of Premiums, Promos, and Pop-ups, closed in 2023.Both exhibits produced full color catalogs with the Kubašta catalog winning the 2015 Leab Award for Best Exhibition Catalog. In 2004, Pitspopany Press published Ellen’s The Hanukkah Puzzle Book: A Book in Eight Parts for Eight Days of Fun!
Larry Seidman
I will be speaking with Ellen about our favorite, rare and unusual Meggendorfer books and ephemera from our collections.
MBS board member Larry Seidman is an avid collector and researcher of antique movable books, Biedermeier cards, puzzles, and optical toys, with a special interest in novel mechanisms. Professionally, he is a retired pediatrician, who values spending time with his three grandchildren. His collection of animated paper toys can be viewed at drlar7.tumblr.com
Follow him on instagram @seidmanlarry
Simon Arizpe
Amy Lopez Nayve
Amy Lopez Nayve is an artist, entrepreneur, and the first Filipino paper engineer to gain international recognition. Amy, as well, is an incoming MBS board member: our first international member! She pioneers the Philippine paper engineering industry through her studio, Pumapapel, creating unforgettable paper experiences that delight, deliver impact, and drive emotional connection. Beyond global brand collaborations, she has led workshops nationwide, introducing Filipinos to the art of paper engineering. Amy also uplifts young artists and entrepreneurs at The Fold, a growing community where collaboration, mentorship, and creative opportunities are cultivated. Her innovative approach has earned her the citation "Trailblazing Creative Disruptor" at the 2025 Benilde Alumni Technopreneur Awards. With Pumapapel, she is driven to empower Filipino creativity, lead innovation in the local industry, and foster meaningful connections.
Ellen is a charter and Board member of the Movable Book Society. She writes a quarterly column, Poppits, for its newsletter, Movable Stationery. She has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, CBS Sunday Morning, and Japanese TV demonstrating books from her collection. The Popuplady invites you to visit her informational website, popuplady.com
Simon Arizpe is an award winning pop-up book designer, paper engineer, and illustrator based in Brooklyn, New York. Simon's work has won The Meggendorfer Prize from the Movable Book Society, the Award of Excellence from the Society of Illustrators, and is a #1 Best Selling Author on Amazon. A graduate of The Pratt Institute, Simon worked for over 10 years as a senior paper engineer at several of the top pop-up book studios in the world before opening his own studio in 2014. In addition to his design work, Simon is the professor of paper engineering at The Pratt Institute and Parsons in New York City.
www.pumpamelcrafts.com Instagram: @pumpamelcrafts
Emily Beck and Jenny Schmid:
Disembodied Reembodied: Reproductive Justice & Collaborating to Create Movable Prints
Disembodied Reembodied addresses medical depictions of women’s bodies in historical medical texts in the collections of the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine (WHL) at the University of Minnesota. Artist Jenny Schmid and curator Emily Beck will describe their collaboration and the creation of the printed folio and incorporation of movable elements as inspired by the WHL collection. They will also discuss the public
engagement and teaching associated with the folio and future directions for collaboration between arts, science, and history. The Disembodied Reembodied folio will be on display for attendees to view and interact with.
Emily Beck is the Associate Curator of the Wangensteen Historical Library of Biology and Medicine at the University of Minnesota. She did her graduate work in the history of medicine at the University of Medicine, where she focused on histories of making by examining 16th and 17th-century manuscript medical recipe books from northern and central Italy. As a curator, Emily continues to work on historical recipes in different contexts, from collaborating with a distillery to recreate plague water to researching how early modern Europeans attempted to make magical swords. Emily is also the co-PI of an oral history project called Plant/ People that documents stories of people's deep relationships with plants and land in Minnesota. You can reach out to Emily at ebeck@umn.edu
Wangensteen's instagram is @wangensteenlibrary
Jenny Schmid grew up in the Pacific Northwest and lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she runs Bikini Press International and is a professor the University of Minnesota Department of Art. She first learned intaglio printmaking at age 16 through a Smithsonian workshop with the public schools and worked as an assistant in fine art lithography workshops in Seattle and San Francisco, starting at age 18. She learned traditional print processes in the Czech Republic, and in Slovakia on a Fulbright Fellowship.
Schmid has collaborated with poets, musicians, programmers, librarians and a bioethicist to realize projects that range from print folios to large scale live
animation projection commissions. She received two McKnight Fellowships, the Bush Artists Grant, and two Minnesota State Arts Board grants. Her prints have been acquired by collections including The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Block Museum, The Spencer Art Museum, The Columbia University Medical Library and The Library of Congress.
https://jennyschmid.com/
Ally Low
Maike Biederstädt
Maike Biederstädt is a Berlinbased paper engineer, creating pop-up books and cards that bring scenes to life through playful, narrative movements. She works on the ongoing DK Pop-up Peekaboo series and has created the books Creatures of the Deep, Ernst Haeckel, and The Weather Pop-up Book, as well as the MoMA card Shimmering Snowflake (2016 Louie Award). Since 2015, she has taught a pop-up class at AID Berlin.
Instagram: @maike_biederstaedt
Facebook: maike.biederstadt
Ally Low is a veteran game developer with over a decade of experience and 17+ shipped titles. He is the founder of Lowtek Games, a studio dedicated to creating dyslexia-friendly games and tools for both old and modern platforms. His work is characterized by a unique fusion of physical and digital elements, producing innovative projects ranging from NES cartridges to projection-mapped pop-up books and animated cross-stitch displays.
Previously, Ally helped manage a local makerspace, where he organized and led several community game jams. In the past he's helped run the local makerspace including running a few game jams.
https://linktr.ee/lowtekgames
https://lowtek.games/
https://www.tiktok.com/@wallmasterr
https://x.com/Wallmasterr
https://bsky.app/profile/alastairlow.bsky. social
https://www.instagram.com/wallmasterr/
Website: www.maikebiederstaedt.de
Charlotte Johnson
Charlotte Johnson is an emerita professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville where she was responsible for the library's public services, collection development and scholarly communications for 30 years.
Charlotte holds art, education and library science degrees from the University of Wisconsin Madison. Being a charter member of the International Hand Papermakers Society and the Movable Book Society, and the only librarian on the International ePub Standards Committee, she has artist’s books in museums and collections worldwide, and has completed art residencies and given presentations in many of the more than 60 countries she has visited. Charlotte will be joined on stage by Dr. Amanda Bahr-Evola, Ellen G.K. Rubin, and Thomas Bassett, CPA.
Phone: 618-656-5743
Email: Shypoke09@gmail.com
Web: https://6-charlotte-johnson.pixels.com
Kelli Anderson
Alphabet in Motion
Have you ever opened the font menu on your computer and wondered 'how did we end up with so many styles of letters?' This
A-to-Z pop-up book outlines (with essays) and actively demonstrates (with pop-up explorable explanations) how the alphabets of various eras got their shape. Whether projecting light through a phototypesetting pop-up or reconfiguring Josef Albers' Bauhaus stencil lettering, this masterfully crafted, hands-on publication connects readers to the deep history embedded within the everyday typographic world that surrounds us. The history of the world can be seen in how letters are shaped—this book shows readers how to see and connect with it.
Instagram: @kellianderson
Bruce Foster is the paper engineer of over 65 published popup books, plus hundreds of cards and commercial applications of paper engineering for private individuals, companies, museums, and publishers. Disney also enlisted Bruce to create the pop-up book and scenes in the movie, Enchanted.
Since 2018 Bruce has also been the editor and art director of the quarterly newsletter/magazine, Movable Stationery, for The Movable Book Society. He also is a frequent speaker at elementary schools and organizations. Additionally Bruce is an adjunct professor of graphic design at Lone Star College in Houston, Texas. www.paperpops.com
Instagram: @bfpop editor@movablebooksociety.org
Seth Berg
Seth Berg resides in Telluride, Colorado where he is warmly recognized by everyone in that town after a remarkable career as a teacher at the local high school. Seth is an avid collector of pop-up and movable books and is now exploring paper engineering himself.
BA - Oberlin College in Biology and Art History MA -Goddard College in Education Dean of Studies - Burke Mtn Academy, Vermont Curriculum Director - Telluride Schools, Colorado 2008 Colorado Teacher of the Year Presently - K-12 Education Consultant sethhberg@gmail.com
Sparking Connections with Chibitronics: Lighting Up the World with Paper & Imagination
Chibitronics is an education technology company that creates STEAMbased tools blending paper crafts, art, circuits, and coding to make electronics and programming accessible, fun, and engaging for all ages. Founded in 2014, Chibitronics combines technology with friendly craft materials to nurture creativity, spark curiosity, and build confidence in STEM learning. Used by educators, students, and creators worldwide, Chibitronics has led workshops at venues ranging from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy— to Microsoft, Lego, and the Girl Scouts—and its work is featured in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Jie Qi
Jie Qi is an artist, inventor, and entrepreneur. She is also the co-founder and CEO of Chibitronics, which produces creative learning toolkits for paper circuits. One of her
core missions is combining art with engineering to create experiences of wonder that empower creators of all backgrounds to make their own expressive and personally meaningful technologies. Jie holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and an M.S. and Ph.D. in media arts and sciences from the MIT Media Lab. And congratulations! Jie just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy mid September!
https://chibitronics.com
Jill Dawson
Jill Dawson is an educator, artist, and maker based in Fredericton, NB, Canada. Jill enjoys dabbling in bookbinding, ecoprinting, electronics, and (more recently) paper engineering. Discovering Chibitronics in 2015 changed the trajectory of her life. Since those first early experiments with light and interactivity, she has been obsessed with learning (and teaching) as much as she can about ways to merge paper circuits with other creative pursuits. Formerly a public school teacher, Jill has been working as a customer engagement & educational support specialist for Chibitronics for nearly five years.
Jill@chibitronics.com
Bruce Foster
PIZZA POP-UP
PE: David Hawcock
Illustrator: Pauline Gregory Nuinui jeunesse
March 13, 2025
9782889573783
14,90 € French
PEEKABOO! REINDEER
PE: Maike Biederstädt
DK Sept 16, 2025
978-0593965504
$14.99
ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE: PETER PAN
PE: ?
Illustrator: Ella Beech Magic Cat
978-1917366144
Sept 9, 2025
$24.99
CROCODILE GENA AND HIS FRIENDS
PE: Aleksy Zauer
Illustrator: Vitaly Shvarov and Elena Almazova
September 2025
AST Publishing House
978-5-17-127354-5 $40 Russian
BLUEY: A BIG POP-UP BOOK
PE: ?
Penguin Young Readers Sept 30, 2025
978-0241740316
$27.98
Insight Editions October 7, 2025
979-8337401980
$26.39
NOTRE DAME
PE: David Hawcock Nuinui jeneusse October, 2025
9782889754403 19,90 € French
HARRY POTTER: DIAGON ALLEY
PE: David Hawcock
L’INCROYABLE MAISON DE LA FORÊT, THE INCREDIBLE HOUSE OF THE FOREST
PE: Elena Selena
Didier Jeunesse
Oct 8, 2025
978-2278132768
19,90 € French
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE
PE: Jess Tice-Gilbert
Illustrator: Karl James Mountford
Scholastic
October 14, 2025
978-1546154419
$39.99
WICKED, THE ULTIMATE POP-UP
PE: Matthew Reinhardt
Illustrator: Rui Ricardo
Insight Editions November 4, 2025
979-8337401348
$75
AVATAR: THE ULTIMATE POP-UP
PE: Matthew Reinhardt
Illustrator: Rodrigo Tannus
December 2, 2025
Insight Editions 979-8337400501
$85
POP-UP PEEKABOO! TREE
PE: Maike Biederstädt November 18, 2025 DK 978-0593971994 $14.99
ALPHABET IN MOTION
PE: Kelli Anderson Katherine Small Gallery November 18, 2025 9780997175912
$85.00
DAS NEINHORN
PE: Tina Kraus
Illustrator: Astrid Henn
September 29, 2025
978-3-551-52307-5 Carlson Verlag
35 € German
In memoriam.
Gene Vosough
Art Director. Designer. Paper Engineer. Good Friend.
By Bruce Foster
Gene Vosough had been a good friend of mine since we met in the early 90's at Ottenheimer Publishers in Baltimore, MD. Gene was on the art staff there headed by Bea Jackson, the first professional who saw my potential as a paper engineer. Gene was the second. Years later I was trying to break into the big box publishers of New York. Even though I had thrust my business card into the hand of Robin Corey at the Book Expo in Chicago, nothing had come of it in the two years since. But one day I got that call from Robin. She was offering me my first Simon&Schuster assignment! Why now? Because Gene had, in that interim, joined the art staff there. Robin asked Gene (since he and I had a common Ottenheimer history) if my work was trustworthy. Gene wholeheartedly vouched for me. And my career took off. After that, whenever I was in New York, Gene was the first person I would call and make plans with. Our friendship only grew stronger. No celebration or event was complete without his presence.
I tell you this so you can understand how devastating his passing has been for me. I lost a brother.
But we all also lost a kindred spirit. Gene himself became a paper engineer as well, designing and/or concepting many books inside the anonymity of S&S, being on staff. But he did achieve a list of books to his credit as well. From licensed characters like Spongebob Squarepants, Blues Clues, and Fairly Odd Parents, on to celebrated movable books like Birdscapes (alongside familiar names Renee Jablow and Andy Baron) and eventually to his own line of greeting cards for his venture, Royal Odyssey, Gene succeeded in contributing to our world. But Gene will be remembered by many of us in the pop-up world for his guidance and help both technically and graphically, for his support, his generous spirit, fierce defense of our concepts in those S&S pitch meetings, and of course, a unique and joyous laugh.
Gene's family was a unique one. His parents were artists and musicians, but formed a very small family. Gene was an only child, and to my knowledge left no family behind. No aunts, uncles, cousins. So it falls to us, his family of friends, to remember and honor his legacy. This one is for you, Gene.
Learn more about Gene at Publishers Weekly.
“Gene was instrumental in helping me navigate the intricate and very complex world of creating commercial 3D books for young readers,” Sabuda told Publishers Weekly. “He helped me understand the technological challenges of printing my work in the way I wanted it to appear, especially in using non-traditional inks, in the finished books, in addition to being a fantastic art director and hand-holder. His passing is a great loss to the publishing world, and I will miss his wonderful, wonderful laugh!”
-Robert Sabuda
Top row: A line of greeting cards for Royal Odyssey.
Above: Some of the pop-up books designed while at S&S.
Below: The second spread designed by Gene for Birdscapes.
Keith Allen: Well, well, well...look what time it is again... PopUpTober TIME! Please help spread the word! RULES:
1. Make any Pop-Up using the prompts provided 2. Post in October on the date provided 3. Tag with #Popuptober2025 #Popuptober
Chibitronics will once again be piggybacking off this to feature pop-up solutions by invited paper engineers featuring their electronic lights. Add #Chibitronics
The Museum of Modern Art recently announced their new edition of holiday pop-up cards by some very familiar as well as newly discovered names! Find wonderful new cards by Rob Kelly, Peter Dahmen, Dominique Ehrhard, David A Carter, Peagreen, Aimee Hucek, Keisuke
Christiane
Shimako
A+B Designs, and more! Send some pop-up joy to friends and loved ones this year!
MBS CONFERENCE
The clock is running down for the Movable Book Society’s next conference, September 25-28, 2025 in St. Louis, MO. Check at https://movablebooksociety.org/conference/ for information how to attend live or virtually. There will be a book sale where tables are already filling up and book-related excursions.
BOOK FAIRS
You won’t want to miss the Movable Book Society’s Virtual Book Sale/2025. It appears to be the best yet with unique and valuable movable books, some quite surprising. Watch for the announcement on movablebooksociety.org and Facebook and Instagram. The sale is most likely to be in October, 2025.
The Empire State Rare Book and Print Fair will be on September 26-28, 2025 at Vanderbilt Hall, Grand Central Terminal, NYC. I am sorry to miss this fair but if you are unable to come to the MBS Conference, visit this show. Not familiar with Grand Central Terminal? It is a work of art by itself. https://bit.ly/3VIqet3
Our West Coast members should not miss the Rare Book LA: Union Station Book Fair, October 4-5, 2025. With support from ABE Books, more than 50 exhibitors from London, New York, and everywhere in between will fill the Ticket Concourse at LA Union Station with an electrifying array of first editions and other historical material. Attendees are encouraged to join partners Metro and hop onboard Metrolink, Metro Rail, or Amtrak for this transit-friendly book fair. Money will be raised for the Palisades Library Branch devastated in the wildfires. Movie related events are also on the docket. https://bit. ly/4ggQGDD
Too bad the St. Louis Rare Book Fair could not coordinate dates with the MBS Conference. The Fair will be held October 10, 4-8PM at the Missouri Athletic Club. https://bit. ly/4pfr6Tt
The Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair will be held October 28 & 19, 2025 at the Seattle (WA) Center Exhibition Hall. This is an international bookseller event. https://bit.ly/3VdZu3w
On November 21 and 22, 2025, The Northampton Antiquarian Book, Ephemera, and Book Arts Fair will be at the Center for the Arts at Northampton (MA) Community Arts Trust. The gamut of the print world will present their wares. https://bit.ly/4ghZyZy
It is not too early to make your arrangements for the Boston International Book Fair, November 7-9, 2025 sanctioned by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association
Unosawa,
Grauert,
Okamura,
POPPITS POPPITS
by Ellen G. K. Rubin
of America. This fair is always exciting. The Popuplady not only finds treasures but sees movable paper material she has never seen before. Traditionally, there is a “Shadow Show” near the Boston Fair that sells great but less expensive movables. It is a fair not to be missed. https://bit.ly/4pf8jHY
MBS members: If you are planning an exhibition or know of one, please alert The Popuplady or Bruce Foster. We all want to see these exhibitions. Think about approaching your local library or museum about mounting an exhibit from your pop-up book collection.
EXHIBITIONS
Iowa University Libraries is mounting an exhibition: Paper Engineering in Art, Science, and Education, August 25-December 19, 2025. The exhibit showcases the fascinating world of movable books and paper technologies. Curated by Giselle Simón, Damien Ihrig, and Elizabeth Yale, this interactive exhibition invites visitors to explore flap books, pop-ups, tunnel books, volvelles, and books that use paper to make sounds while learning about their historical and contemporary significance. Log onto https://bit. ly/4mas9l1 for videos and more information about paper engineering.
centuries. The exhibit will be held at Palazzo Barolo in Turin and is curated by Fondazione Tancredi di Barolo and the International Centre of Interactive Books https:// www.pop-app.org/ The JIB, The Journal of Interactive Books, is published by these organizations and is available at https://jib. pop-app.org/index.php/jib/issue/archive
A publication about the exhibit will be available. The Popuplady and the Movable Book Society’s director, Suzanne Karr Schmidt, will be attending the opening on December 11.
There will be a Zoom Webinar associated with this exhibit on September 24 at 1PM EDT. This is an online curator talk with Elizabeth Yale, Damien Ihrig, and Giselle Simón. Registration is required: https:// events.uiowa.edu/event/33579
The MUSLI Museum (the Museum of School and Children’s Book) in Turin, Italy is opening a pop-up book museum, Pop App Museum on December 11. An exhibit December 11-June 28, 2026 also features the works of Lothar Meggendorfer, honoring the 100th anniversary of his death. The Fondazione Tancredi di Barolo (www.fondazionetancredidibarolo.com), established in 2002, which also includes the library and archive as well as MUSLI, is devoted to children’s books printed in Italy in the 19th and 20th
Also, in Chiavari, Italy from December 6-21, 2025, will be an exhibit of the works of Vojtěch Kubašta (1914-1992.) and others. The books are from the collection of Dr. Mauro Pierluigi (1952-2020) and were donated to the Library of the Economic Society of Chiavari. His collection of 300 titles began in 1989 after visiting Prague. The exhibition, Vojtech Kubasta: The Prague artist’s popups in Mauro Pierluigi’s collection, will publish a catalog and conduct workshops. https://bit. ly/4nnPgtp
Fear of Leaping off the Page invites visitors to dive into the fascinating world of pop-up books centered on the theme of fear. October 4-31 at the Roy Gomes da Silva Municipal Library, Chamusca, Portugal. Presented by André Pimenta.
FELLOWSHIPS
The de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection of The University of Southern Mississippi is offering a research fellowship. The Syd Hoff Research Fellowship Endowment is to support scholars who wish to study any part of the de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection. Syd Hoff (September 4, 1912 – May 12, 2004, the notable children’s illustrator, is best known for Danny and the Dinosaur. The Syd Hoff Research Fellowship Endowment is administered by The University of Southern Mississippi Foundation. The
deGrummond Collection, Hattiesburg, MS has the archives of Curious George (H.A. and Margret Rey), Ezra Jack Keats, Madeleine L'Engle, Richard Peck, Kathi Appelt, John Green and many, many more.
The deadline is September 30. Send application to Karlie Herndon, karlie.herndon@usm.edu https://www.degrummond.org/syd-hofffellowship
MULTIMEDIA
McGill University has created a video demonstrating Turn-Up books and their history. It states the first Turn-Up book, housed in the British Library, is from 1650. Watch and learn! https://news.library.mcgill.ca/t-is-for-turn-upbook/
WORKSHOPS
Shawn Sheehy conducts paper engineering works in person and online around the country. Log on to find one convenient for you! https://www.shawnsheehy.com/workshops
The School for Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC will have a hands-on workshop conducted by Teen Namiko Liu on Sunday, November 9, 2025, 11AM-3PM. Through demonstrations in layer folds, tip-ons, double v-folds and rotators, you will learn how to transform flat paper into 3D images. All participants will build a pop-up animal creature or greeting card design. Cardstock will be provided. https://bit.ly/4m5ywpH
At the Center for Book Arts, NYC, on Tuesday October 14, 1PM-3PM, ET will be a virtual workshop by MBS member, Maria G. Pisano, creating a Flag Book. The flag book is a very exciting form, originally created by Hedi Kyle, where layered pages criss-cross each other when opening and closing, making the book a living, moving, interactive entity. The flags’ wonderful movement allow for multiple images and content. This is a Pay What You Can class but donations are highly recommended. https://bit. ly/41Ljcr0
If you make individual pop-up models and seek to preserve them, Duncan Birmingham shows you how to bind them together. Subscribe to his The Pop-up Channel to get more tutorials. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=KsaPAvBRWiM
The Morgan Library in New York is hosting a workshop with Meggendorfer Artist Book recipient, Paul Johnson, this Saturday the 20th at 1 and again at 2:30. Johnson will show how his new pop-up book ‘The Book of Morgan’ was made and then assemble it from flat to 3D format. Participants will make a pop-up of their own to take home.
VOLUME 33, NUMBER 3 September 2025
September 25 - September 28 St. Louis, M o
Attend in person or virtually
View all conference presentations in real time
Presentations featuring historians, paper engineers, and collectors
Silent Auction
Voting for the Meggendorfer Prize for Trade Books
The Book Fair, The Auction, The Meggendorfer Prizes
