Motion Books are the closest thing you have seen yet to the "Daily Prophet" newspaper in the Harry Potter movies, with magically moving newspaper photos. They come in the form of a CD case-sized "Motion Picture Book", into which one slides a special card with a blurry looking image. Then, simply by opening the lid, the image on the card "comes to life" in a very short, fluid, film-like motion clip. The effect is truly magical, and seems to have no upper or lower age limit in its power to make people say "Wow!"  

The first products will include the book, or viewer, packaged with 5 image cards, to be sold at first in museum, zoo, and aquarium gift shops. Subject matter for the cards will include animal pictures such as lions attacking prey, tigers snarling, and bears fishing, as well as cheetahs and gazelles running, birds of prey swooping down, elephants mud-bathing, wolves trotting through snow, and many others.

"The image base will be expanding to include sports, famous movie clips, and more everyday things like city scenes - even pictures of construction sites with backhoes and cranes", explains artist, inventor, and designer Dan Kainen, who has been perfecting the seemingly simple device over the last 7+ years, so that it is simple to use, and versatile in its applications, which are apparently endless. They include educational toy, toy book, promotion and premium, visual teaching aid, greeting card, and CD case with a vengeance (some large record companies see it as a way to promote record sales and combat downloading, since the case becomes a true collectors' item). In the long run, Mr Kainen believes that the largest application may be home photography. For now, however, look for them in your museum and zoo gift shops.