Ib Penick

Ib Penick (1930–1998), a native of Denmark, was known as "the creative mind behind the resurgence of pop-up children's books in the 1960s and 1970s.[2] In his career, Penick designed more than 130 children's books, including Star Wars: a Pop-up Book, which sold more than a million copies.[3] Penick related to one reporter, "...there are only about 100 folds and tricks to [his paper engineering] trade. It's like playing a piano. You have only a certain number of keys, but it's the combinations that make the difference."[4]

Ib Penick
Born	(1930-05-11)May 11, 1930[1] Odense, Denmark
Died	April 21, 1998(1998-04-21) (aged 67) Wilmington, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation	Paper Engineer, Inventor
Children	3

Biography

In the 1960s Penick joined Waldo Hunt at Graphics International, a firm that created pop-up books, including a series of titles for Random House and other publishers.[5] Penick was the "premier paper engineer" for the Random House pop-up titles, and Tor Lokvig was his protege.[6] According to Gerald Harrison, a former president of the children's books division at Random House, Penick "was really responsible for creating the whole world we lived in. With the advent of the Random House line, a whole industry was created and the very first ones were created by Ib."[7]

Penick and Hunt later sold Graphics International to Hallmark Cards in 1966.[8]

Selected bibliography

The following is a sample of the pop-up books paper engineered by Ib Penick:[9]

• Penick, Ib; Barlowe, Wayne (1978), Star Wars: A Pop-up Book, Random House, OCLC 16436266
• Penick, Ib; Forte, Joseph (1986), The Story of the Statue of Liberty: with movable illustrations in three dimensions, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, OCLC 13663592
• Penick, Ib; Swan, Curt; Oksner, Bob; Serpe, Jerry (1979), Superman: a pop-up book, Random House, OCLC 6014334
• Penick, Ib; Sondern, Ferd (1974), Who are the people in your neighborhood?, Random House and Children's Television Workshop, OCLC 2294774

Patents

Penick held several patents in the area of paper engineering, camera design and packaging, including:

1. A U.S. Patent 4,784,314 A– Decorative paperboard boxes
2. A U.S. Patent 4,313,270 A– Item with pivoting pop-up
3. A U.S. Patent 4,337,589 A– Method of making hinged pop-up items
4. A U.S. Patent 4,349,973 A– Pop-ups and methods of making
5. A U.S. Patent 4,146,983 A– Promotional pop-up and method of making
6. A U.S. Patent 5,022,681 A– Paper pop-up devices and method of making the same
7. A U.S. Patent 4,192,596 A– Camera with improved shutter arrangement
8. A U.S. Patent 3,650,194 A– Disposable Camera
9. A U.S. Patent 4,057,813 A– Pocket sized camera

References

1. Penick, Ib. "U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
2. Breslin, Meg (April 24, 1998). "Ib Penick, 67, Designer Of Modern Pop-up Books". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
3. Kathy, Schaeffer (September 2, 1984). "Pop-up Paper Designs Keep Him Hoppin'" (Daily Herald Suburban Chicago). p. 32.
4. Schaeffer, Kathy (2 September 1984). "Daily Herald Suburban Chicago, September 2, 1984, Page 32". Retrieved 13 December 2016.
5. Breslin, Meg (April 24, 1998). "Ib Penick, 67, Designer Of Modern Pop-up Books". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
6. Sterling, Kate (1 January 1993). "An Interview with the Paterfamilias of Pop-up. Part 1 of 3. Waldo Hunt". Movable stationery. 10 (1): 15. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
7. Breslin, Meg. "Ib Penick, 67, Designer Of Modern Pop-up Books". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
8. Sterling, Kate (1 January 1993). "An Interview with the Paterfamilias of Pop-up. Part 1 of 3". Movable stationery. 10 (1): 15.
9. Montanaro, Ann R. Pop-up and movable books: a bibliography. Scarecrow Press. pp. 647–948. ISBN 0810837285. Retrieved 13 December 2016.