Probably the best Swiss souvenir books

Ellen Rubin aka the Popuplady recently brought my attention to a new series of pop-up books promoting Switzerland and its many cultural, natural and architectural wonders. There are six books in the series created by Stand-Up –Switzerland, and the publisher boasts of being “the original” as well as “the no. 1 3D-Book of Switzerland.” I had the opportunity to review two titles in the series and opted to focus on the major cities of Zurich and Bern. Looks like I chose well as the copy of “Best of Bern” displayed a sticker plainly stating “probably the best Swiss Souvenir-Book”.

The designers cram almost 40 pages of information in the 12” x 9” format that features a pop-up map of the host region on the first spread as well as a large complex paper engineered structure with accompanying pop-up side flap in the center of the book. In Bern, the Bundeshaus (Parliament building) unfolds to a satisfyingly solid structure. For Zurich, the Grossmunster cathedral takes center stage to St. Peter’s clock tower. The good people at Refeka really did a nice job with the paper engineering.

Since this is a promotion catering to the tourism trade, all the books are printed in German, French, English, Chinese and Japanese. Additionally, pop-up cards are available for purchase at the online store. With the aid of Google translation and helpful English email correspondence I had no trouble ordering these welcome editions. If you are interested in a unique souvenir of your time abroad or wish to supplement your pop-up collection, I recommend you consider picking some up.

-Kyle