Can You Name 10 African American-Themed Pop-Up Books? by Kyra E. Hicks

Please contact 23 Sandy for current availability.
Pop-up books are magically enchanting. They have the power to take us to new galaxies, revisit historical events, introduce new people, and re-interpret familiar stories. Can a child of color in the US see themselves in today's pop-up books? How would a Black girl, for example, feel seeing an image like her on the cover of a pop-up book? How would she feel turning the pages of a 3D adventure where she is the heroine? Might she be inspired to imagine, design and build her own pop-up stories? The US Census Bureau says there are 9.1 million Black children under the age of 15 or 15% of all US children in that age range. That seems like a good market size. Yet, it is most difficult to find a pop-up book with a Black child as the hero. You can help. Can you name 10 African American-themed pop-up books? Or, even 2? This pop-up brochure showcases African American-themed pop-up books located to date—not one published in the last two decades—and suggests ways to address this gap.

Artist Bio

Kyra E. Hicks is a quilter and author of several books on African American quilt history. She was inspired to learn more about three-dimensional books upon seeing the works of Julia Arredondo (Vice Versa Press), Corina Fletcher (England), Ed Hutchins (NY), printmaker Atta Kwami (England), Emily Martin (Iowa) and Ruth E. Edwards (NY), who founded Books in Black, an artists' book collective. Kyra is new to pop-up books, but hopes to contribute to the conversation about culturally-diverse pop-up books for children.