posted on 30 Dec 2015

The Rock Pack by James Henke and Ron Van Der Meer

Pop-up books are just for kids - right? Wrong. One of the fastest growing areas of publishing is the illustrated book for adults - including 'inter-active' and pop-up paper technology. But as with so many of these current hot trends, its actually nothing new and The Rock Pack stands as testimony to the way in which innovative presentation has been with us for a good while.

This book includes a whole host of information presented in lots of different ways - pull-out booklets, pop-up 3D images, a cd featuring interviews and activities for the reader to engage with page by page. From the 50s to the 90s the book gives us a chronological survey of the development of rock music and introduces the reader to the main currents of rock and roll culture.

It is, however, very American and they have a very specific take on what constitutes great rock and this is very different to mine. That aside, however, this is great fun and predates the sort of presentations that have migrated in recent years onto Youtube, tablets and computers. 

The book was published by Virgin in 1997 - although the historical content only goes through to the early 90s. It cost a hefty £25 new but you can now pick up a complete and functioning version for well under £10 (probably from the USA).

Terry Potter

December 2015