Little Red Riding Hood movable book

This story of Little Red Riding Hood is a very simple example of a 'movable' book, and is constructed using flaps which are all opened by hand to reveal the next scene in the story underneath the first. It was published by London firm Dean & Son, which is credited with having published the first true movable books, in any significant quantity.

Movable illustrations and other pieces add motion and depth to 'two-dimensional' illustrations. As the genre evolved, more complicated techniques were developed, using cut-out illustrations pulled up with ribbons, tab-pulled changeable pictures, 'peep-show' scenes that were viewed through a hole in the cover, revolving parts, intricate cut-paper designs, and automatic pop-up mechanisms.

The late 19th century was a period of great innovation in the production of movable (or in today's terminology 'pop-up') books. Ernest Nister was one creator/publisher who brought the production of these novelty books to heights of excellence that were not surpassed until the 1980s. He developed a number of techniques for making the image change on the page and is particularly noted for his kaleidoscopic pictures or magic window effect. See Round about pictures.

The production of such movable books was, and still is, a very labour intensive activity which requires skilled craftsmen to achieve.

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