Aventuras de Atú el pingüino: Un cuento con personajes que salen del libro y andan solos. (Waddle Book)
Author: Carmen de Rafael [Carmen Kurtz]
Illustrator: Alejandro Coll
Publisher: Buenos Aires/Barcelona: Editorial Molino Argentina, 1948
Picture book with interactive die-cut figures 32.5 cm x 24 cm
26 pp., including all four original unpunched waddle figure pages and original die-cut ramp, Original illustrated paper-covered boards over quarter blue cloth spine
Description:
Stated first edition of this hard-to-find Spanish-language waddle book, published by Editorial Molino. Atú el pingüino is one of just five known titles in the coveted "Waddle Book" format, using die-cut figures and an included ramp to create moving characters that "walk alone."
The front cover reads: "Un cuento con personajes que salen del libro y andan solos," translated as "A tale with characters that leave the book and walk alone." This same phrasing appears on Molino’s Spanish edition of the Mickey Mouse Waddle Book.
Atú el pingüino tells the charming tale of a little penguin and his icy adventures, richly illustrated by Alejandro Coll.
Condition:
Very Good to Fine. All four waddle figures are completely unpunched and present on their original punch sheets. The original ramp is also intact and excellent. Slight tear to upper spine (see photos). No writing or internal marks. Stored and shipped in a protective archival presentation box.
Collectors' Corner:
Printed in Buenos Aires in a limited edition. It's sister book Aventuras de la gallina Clo-Clo had only a 3,000 copy print run - as confirmed in the Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina (1948). Very few copies of Atú el pingüino survive in any condition—even fewer complete with figures and ramp—making this one of the most elusive titles in the waddle book category.
Spain was an early pioneer in licensing Disney movable books. Editorial Molino, active in both Barcelona and Buenos Aires, held Disney licenses before the Spanish Civil War. According to historian Didier Ghez, Molino was integral to the introduction of Disney titles to the Spanish-speaking market. See also the Movable Book History article at: https://www.vintagepopupbooks.com/category-s/1864.htm
About the Author:
Carmen Kurtz (1911–1999), born Carmen de Rafael Marés in Barcelona, studied in France and the UK and lived abroad through the Spanish Civil War and World War II. She returned to Spain around 1943 and began writing children's books under pseudonyms such as Isabel Marés and Carmen de Rafael.
Her collaboration with Editorial Molino resulted in four early children's toy-books: Las fantasías de Nana-Namur, Huevos de Pascua, Aventuras de la gallina Clo-Clo, and Aventuras de Atú el pingüino. These were part of Molino's Marujita series and are foundational to postwar Spanish children's publishing. She was Spain’s official nominee for the 1980 Hans Christian Andersen Award.
Related Waddle Books:
Mickey Mouse Waddle Book (1934, Blue Ribbon Books, NY)
Teddy Tail Waddle Book (1934, Collins UK; 1934, Whitman USA)
The Wizard of Oz Waddle Book (1934, Blue Ribbon Books, NY)
Aventuras de la gallina Clo-Clo (1947, Editorial Molino) See it here https://www.vintagepopupbooks.com/1940-s-Waddle-Book-complete-p/dis-1.htm
Aventuras de Atú el pingüino (1948, Editorial Molino)
References:
Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina, 1ra sección (1948): archive.org/details/Boletin_Oficial_Republica_Argentina
"Carmen Kurtz." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Last modified May 6, 2024.