Author’s books use ‘magic’ to give pictures movement

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Slide, glide, twirl! Splish, splash, floop!

Rare is the children’s book that begs to be read and tossed aside for a good romp — all at the same time. Rarer still are moving pictures built right in that ­double-dare kids to do just that.

Meet Rufus Butler Seder — equal parts artist, mad scientist and boy magician who never grew up.

From a studio in Waltham, Mass., Seder created two hugely popular picture books with unique black-and-white images that trick the eye and come alive when pages are turned. The look is a bit like holography — only it isn’t.

“It’s about the magic,” Seder said. “It dates to my days as a junior magician with my Remco magic kit. It’s creating that illusion that fires the imagination.”

To create his moving pictures, Seder uses a layer of multiple images printed on a sheet of paper under a layer of vertical lines akin to a picket fence on clear acetate. When the page is turned, the reader’s brain unscrambles the images underneath and prompts the eyes to see motion.

No electricity, motors or special lighting are required.

Seder’s latest book “Swing!” was released in September and shows children at play. He sets a young ice skater twirling and a swimmer racing across a pool.

The book follows last year’s “Gallop!” that includes a horse running, a butterfly fluttering and a chimp swinging from vine to vine.

Seder calls his patented Scanimation a lesson in “retro-tech,” traceable to the mechanics of the slotted, spinning Zoetrope invented about 1850.

The difference between Seder’s method and other forms of animation and motion picture technology is he compacts all phases of an image sequence onto a single page, requiring less distance and speed to create the effect.

Interest in the books from parents and children has been swift and lasting. “Gallop!” has been high on best-seller lists for most of 2008, is available in 12 languages and is approaching 2 million copies in print. Seder’s “Swing!” has already made some lists with nearly 800,000 copies in print.

Seder has no plans to slow down. He’ll put out “Waddle!” next year, followed by a surprise Scanimation kid book soon after that.