Animal Opposites: Petr Horacek

As a longtime fan of Petr Horacek, I'm happy to share his new Animal Opposites, a pop-up book.  The large format holds a collection of animals that is a surprising delight by comparison, all with the fresh looseness of Horacek's illustration.

A fat pig is paired with a thin meerkat. A still sloth hangs opposite a bouncy kangaroo. The flaps and pop-ups of various sizes are just extra bonuses in this beautiful collection. I think this work could actually stand alone as a board book. Maybe a consideration, Candlewick Press, for the smallest hands?

It is a book like this that makes me again wish for an award to recognize brilliance in the board book/novelty format. Joan and I made the call out in 2009, here. And we both decided The Kunhardt Award would be aptly named for Dorothy Kunhardt's Pat the Bunny. Animal Opposites would be a contender for certain!

Animal Opposites, a pop-up book
by Petr Horacek
Candlewick Press, 2013

One Spotted Giraffe: Petr Horacek

It's a season of pop-ups, it seems! One that stands out from the crowd is One Spotted Giraffe, A Counting Pop-up Book. Petr Horacek's illustrations of animals against simple backgrounds pop, engineering aside! Additionally, however, on each spread the illustrated animal is used to form a pop-up number under a flap. You'll love the panda making the number 8.

I particularly enjoy Petr's rough, free lines running throughout the illustrations. There's a palpable energy in the collages. Because he hasn't disguised his technique, your totz will be mesmerized by rich line, color, and shape as they count to 10 with a group of fun animals. It all starts with one spotted giraffe...

One Spotted Giraffe
by Petr Horacek
concept and paper engineering by Claire Vincent
Candlewick Press, 2012