Gallop!

Rufus Butler Seder is an optical genius whose first significant invention was Lifetiles, glass-walled murals that appear to come to life when the viewer walks by. He has installed them at the Smithsonian, SeaWorld, Union Station among other museums, aquariums, train stations and ocean liners around the world. Next came Scanimation, and his company EyeThink, Inc., a business that produces a line of toys and gifts using technologies he's invented. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

"At first glance, this looks like a regular old picture book--but the second you open it up, you'll be mesmerized. Thanks to a brand-new technique called "scanimation," the images on each page seem to move, as though you were watching a film instead of simply reading. Horses gallop, eagles soar--and young readers' jaws drop! It's the coolest book we've seen in a while."--www.parenting.com, "Daily Favs" "Readers will gasp with delight when they open this book, produced as paper-over-board: a hidden tab in each heavy page slides an acetate layer printed with vertical black lines over an encoded, detailed image of a horse, rooster, turtle or other creature, and the layers' interaction creates the illusion of motion. The black-and-white images openly reference the motion photography of Eadweard Muybridge (an influence that Seder acknowledges on the copyright page) and they contrast with the bright palette used for the spare, reader-directed text. ("Can you soar like an eagle?/ Whoosh-whoosh-glide!/ Can you swing like a chimp?/ Swoop-swoop-slide!") This book may encourage plenty of galloping--and jumping, running and bounding--on the part of young readers; adults will find it a marvel to look at in its own right." --"Publishers Weekly," starred review ""Gallop," by Rufus Butler Seder, made an obvious case for itself with ooh-ah graphics, using trademarked Scanimation, a low-tech marvel of sliding paper and stripes. Turn the page, and you set black-and-white pictures of various animals into motion - that is, if certain short people ever let you turn the page. Your kids will elbow you out of the way. They will also elbow each other out of the way."--"The Washington Post" "The pictures of animals, birds and fish seem to move with extraordinary naturalism, A [The animals] are mesmerizing for all ages, especially for aspiring artists who will want to know how it's done." --"New York Times" Book Review