Wizard of Op
March 27th, 2008
During library time in elementary school, for months on end, there was one book I would always read. It was always in the same spot and, in fact, I can still picture the position in the shelf. I've never met anyone who knows about this book, most likely because it's out of print (used copies in the right condition can go for hundreds of dollars). Ed Emberley's other books (which are all fantastic) appear to have remained very popular, and with good cause. Loaded Questions has a charming interview with Emberley, which reveals I'm not the only one to have taken a life long impact from his books.
Wizard of Op appealed to me in particular because of my (still extant) love for magic, illusions and anything having to do with the mind. The art is incredibly striking, using only full black and full white in heavy compositions:
The story revolves around a prince who gets turned into a frog. As princes tend not to enjoy being frogs, he seeks out help from a wizard:
The wizard is rather inept and causes all sorts of havoc with his attempts to de-frog the prince. Each spell manifests itself as a two-page spread optical illusion:
I don't think I'm overstating anything when I say there are psychedelic undertones to this book:
Unfortunately, due to its high collector's value and my insistence on owning everything in mint condition, it's going to be a long time before I get my own Wizard of Op. I had actually considered just stealing it from the library (where I got this copy), but I would hate to deprive a new generation of illusion nerds like me.
