Bark, Jaspre (text) David Lawrence (illus.) David Hawcock (paper engineer): Inventions.

BARK, Jaspre (text) David Lawrence (illus.) David Hawcock (paper engineer) Inventions Walker, 2008 12pp $39.95 ISBN 9781406318289

A marvellous pop-up book that takes the child into to the world of the sixteenth century Florentine polymath, Leonardo da Vinci. Each of da Vinci's inventions was the result of painstaking observation and trial and this book gives a glimpse of his work. The text is a translation of journal notes and supports the models and illustrations in this fascinating production. Examples in this book include architecture, mechanical devices, hydraulic power and aeronautics. The sepia tones used in the book give a sense of antiquity yet da Vinci's work is anything but ancient and useless. For the young inquiring mind this book is a joy to explore and at the same time adds to the growing number of books in the pop-up genre that also makes it a collector's item. JC