David A. Carter, Alexander Calder, and the Childlikeness of the Moveable Book: Children as "Children of All Ages"

Abstract

David A. Carter’s abstract pop-up books, identified as being “for children of all ages,” share qualities with the art of Alexander Calder, whose mobiles are often called “childlike.” In particular, both artists diverge from the conventions of their crafts by introducing moveable elements and by implying how they should be moved, and discussions of each of them often connect their mobility with ideas about childlikeness. As well as exploring the relationship between mobility and childlikeness in Calder’s and Carter’s works, this essay explores the connections between those qualities in the discussion of children’s literature and art more generally.