Clever paper engineering delivers a count-up that is simultaneously a countdown.
Presented as a stark set of big black numbers on small, square, plain white pages, the digits “01” switch places to become “10” with the opening of a gatefold flap with an inset piece that pivots so it becomes part of the new number on the other side. The ensuing “2” loses its bottom bar and becomes a “9” thanks to a similar contrivance and so on—until the progression reverses as “5” and “6” turn out to be mirror versions of each other, and succeeding numbers likewise match their earlier mates up to the final “10”—“01”. The simplicity of the concept belies the subtle, ingenious ways that Bataille designs each number to make the transformations seem simple and unforced.
Packaged in a die-cut red slipcase and, if not so spectacular and diverse in its special effects as the author’s ABC3D (2008), still an ingenious little gem. (Pop-up picture book. 4-6, adult)
