A book is like a friend. We understand the world and life, or even observe ourselves through texts, and have a deep realization of oneself that we are not alone. PMQ invites different people from design and culture sectors to recommend a book, so that you can enrich yourselves as book therapy.

Zoe Liu: As a teaching artist, I always have an inspiration corner in my classroom. One of the popular items that always draw my students’ interests and attention regardless how old they are is this book “ABC3D”. This pop-up book contains only 26 alphabets, A to Z. Simple yet carries complex ideas and effective visual impacts.

Sometimes, we can be easily take granted on the most simple thing. We learned alphabets from a very young age, we see and use them daily but we rarely take the time to appreciate and think of the possibilities of them. This book designer Marion Bataille has challenged viewers to think beyond the lines, and provide a whole new way for young learners to see the connections and differences of each alphabet. For adults, it is a new experience to rediscover the simplistic yet effective style of three-dimensional forms of the letters. The letters not only pop up but they move and transform as the readers turn the pages.

There are couple pages I found the most surprising, as i turn the page, it’s interesting to see how some letters share commonality, like C flips over to become the curve of D; O and P become Q and R with that one stroke on translucent paper; V becomes W with the mirror page; X becomes Y with a flick of the wrist and there’s U….Boldly conceived and wonderfully made with the complex cutting form! A-plus for art teaching on elements of art and principle of design as well as paper engineering.