Paper Engineered by Gerard Lo Monaco Published by Tate Publishing

tom-white-km9i_A couple of months ago, I spent an inspiring afternoon in London admiring the fabulous 20th century work of the late great Sonia Delaunay. A critical figure in modern art, and sadly under-recognised for her talent, Delaunay explored new colour theories to create the colourful, abstract and energetic paintings, textiles and clothes.

Gerard Lo Monaco has created 'Madame Sonia Delaunay' - this sophisticated pop up book to coincide with the 2015 exhibition of Sonia Delaunay's work. The pop up illustrations are based on Sonia Delaunay's original work and have been reconfigured with additional illustration and text to create this playful new publication. For reference, the original artworks are reproduced at the rear of the book.

Gerard Lo Monaco is an Argentinian illustrator, art director and paper engineer based in Paris. The book is really clever and his reconfigured illustrations convey the gusto and colour intensity of the original works. A physically small book with thick matte pages, it is so exquisite that it feels like an artwork in itself.

This book is a lovely introduction for children in to the world of art and critical thought. Each image is accompanied by a rhyming verse that is both insightful and funny. Using poetry and pop-up illustrations, children are encouraged to critique the artwork and use their imaginations to interpret the illustrations.