The Turn Around, Upside Down Alphabet Book (2004)

The Turn Around, Upside Down Alphabet Book (2004)
Lisa Campbell Ernst
Casebound, colored doublures, sewn. H241 x W241 mm, 32 unnumbered pages. Acquired from Thrift Books, 5 November 2021.
Photos: Books On Books Collection.

From children’s picture book to artist’s book and back, certain techniques and tropes with the alphabet recur. Finding an image in a letter or making an image from a letter may be the oldest, not surprising given the pictorial origins of almost all writing systems. Lisa Campbell Ernst freshened this approach with a structural twist that does not rely on pop-ups, flaps, pull-tabs, a volvelle, accordion tunnel or any of the other moving part standbys of children’s books. Rather the whole book moves — as its title suggests.

Two non-alphabetic predecessors to this book are Katsumi Komagata’s Walk & Look and Go Around (1992). Ernst’s inventiveness with foreground, background and negative space holds its own in the illustrious company of illustrators, designers and artists below under Further Reading.

Further Reading

“Abecedaries I (in progress)“. Books On Books Collection.

“Anne Bertier“. 10 August 2022. Books On Books Collection.

“Katsumi Komagata“. 22 March 2020. Books On Books Collection.

“Suse MacDonald“. 10 August 2022. Books On Books Collection.

“Nicolas McDowall“. 12 December 2022. Books On Books Collection.

“Bruno Munari“. 19 August 2021. Books On Books Collection.

“Dave Pelletier“. 10 August 2022. Books On Books Collection.

“Laura Vaccaro Seeger“. 12 December 2022. Books On Books Collection.

Beckett Sandra L. 2013. Crossover Picturebooks : A Genre for All Ages. London: Routledge.